Ditch plans to oust Sunak, Lord Houchen tells plotters

CONSERVATIVE mayor Lord Houchen has revealed Tory leadership hopefuls are bidding for his support ahead of the general election.

In an interview with the mayor for Tees Valley said he had been contacted by several prominent Conservatives asking what direction he thinks the party should take next in an apparent attempt to lay the groundwork for a future leadership contest.

He urged “pathetic” MPs who are “on manoeuvres” to stop what they’re doing and rally behind Mr Sunak, warning their behaviour is “costing” the party.

He also said ousting Mr Sunak before the next election would be “catastrophic” and told plotters they will be responsible for the party’s demise if they force another leadership challenge.

Lord Houchen acknowledged things are looking bleak for the Tories, but urged those plotting leadership bids to stop and focus on the task at hand.

Giving an insight into the messages he had received, he said: “People don’t come out and say ‘I’m going to be standing for leader, I want your support’. It’s all ‘Hi, Ben... how do you think it’s going to go in the general election?’... If things don’t go well, have you given any thought to which direction the party should go in, and I’m really keen to help’, and it’s all that kind of stuff.”

He insisted Mr Sunak has to lead the Tories into the election, but said the Prime Minister “needs more time” for his plan to “bed in”, suggesting he should wait until October or November.

“We’ve got to give people the excuse to vote for us, we haven’t done enough to be able to do that yet,” he said. “There’s still plenty of time. But we’ve still got to do a lot more convincing.”

In the meantime, Lord Houchen has a message for any Tory plotters seeking to oust the Prime Minister before the

‘Ousting the PM before the next election would be the final nail in the coffin for the Conservative Party’

next election – a move he says would be “completely catastrophic” for the party.

“I think that is just the final nail in the coffin, because the people will completely turn off from the Conservative Party. We will not be considered a serious party at the next general election,” he said. “And so if those people who are considering it actually think that they want to put that into action, then they will be responsible for the Conservative Party losing the next general election.”