MP signs two film deals for his books
Labour activists mock PM in Downing Street
enable the Government to combine administration tasks, use the same polling stations and reduce duplication of work. The last time local and general elections were on the same day was 2015, with the general election alone costing £114.7million.
The following election, held in June, just a month after the locals, cost the nation £140.8m.
Adjusted for inflation, the difference between the two would amount to £33.2m today – an amount that would more than cover the cost of extending the Government’s National School Breakfast programme for another year, to 2025.
Alternatively, it could pay the salary of every sitting Tory MP for a year.
Mr Sunak now faces another challenge to his authority from his MPS, who fear the party faces oblivion if he leads it into the next election.
Moderate Tories have reportedly met in secret with right-wingers to discuss replacing him with Penny Mordaunt if they suffer heavy losses in the local elections. It is thought the Conservatives could lose as many as half their council seats in the poll – dramatically reducing their grassroots campaigning strength.
Tory sources say Mr Sunak ruling out a May 2 election has been a catalyst for discontent, reigniting plots to remove him.
Bottled
One source said the PM has been dithering on the timing for so long because he wanted to go for it in May – only to be talked out of it. “He wants it to be over,” they said.
A former minister told us: “Everything was lined up for May 2 but he bottled it at the last minute.
“The moment he said there would be no election on May 2, that’s when the plotting started.”
Tory MPS still question whether Mr
Sunak will make it to an election later in the year without being ousted – but many do not see a clear successor or way to remove him.
And the string of disasters for the PM in the past fortnight – a lacklustre budget, a racism row and the defection of former deputy chair Lee Anderson to Reform UK – are said to have sharpened opinion among the Conservative ranks.
More are said to have rowed in behind Simon Clarke, the short-lived Levelling Up
Secretary under Liz
Truss, who warned in
January that the party was heading towards an “iceberg”.
A source said:
“More MPS have put letters of no confidence in.
But critically, many more
TWO books written by Labour MP Chris Bryant could be set for the big screen after he signed a pair of deals with film companies.
The Shadow
Creative Industries
Minister inked an
£8,000 agreement with Pathé in
November to make a TV series of Code of Conduct, his history of scandal and misconduct in Parliament. are now open to the idea of replacing him than they were before.” Ms Rayner added: “The public is desperate for change and Labour stands ready to deliver it.
“The Prime Minister needs to name the date of the election now.”
So far, an unprecedented nine Conservative MPS have quit or been forced out of their seats since 2019. Government figures suggest that between 2021 and 2023 the average cost to the taxpayer of running a by-election was £450,000.
So the nine needed would have cost around £4.05million.
The nine by-elections include the recall that ousted Peter Bone and the resignation of disgraced Chris Pincher – plus
PLOT To replace Sunak with Mordaunt
And this week, official declarations revealed a further deal with Mother Pictures Ltd, an offshoot of ad agency Mother. Mr Bryant said the contract could result in his 2020 book The Glamour Boys turned into “either a TV series or a movie”. The story follows a group of gay MPS in the 1930s who were among the first to warn about Adolf Hitler.
Boris Johnson and Nadine Dorries leaving their seats.
Meanwhile, Helen Morgan, the Liberal Democrat communities spokeswoman, has branded thetories’ management of local government funding a “shambles”.
She said: “Conservative MPS are adding millions to Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities costs thanks to their inability to stay out of scandal.
“This sleaze-ridden party has proved itself totally unfit for office.”
Lib Dem analysis of the small print of Jeremy Hunt’s Budget reveals the DLUHC’S funding is set to be cut almost in half in real terms.
The party is set to pass a motion calling on the Government to close the £4bn funding shortfall estimated for local councils by the DLUHC Committee.