PM’S allies warn early election a possibility

BORIS JOHNSON’S allies have been warning that there could be an early election as they attempt to convince wavering Tory MPS not to submit letters of no confidence.

The Prime Minister’s advisers have let it be known that an election next year – or even sooner – is a possibility.

The message is seen by some insiders as a coded warning that those who turn on the Prime Minister may lose his support when they seek re-selection from local parties.

David Canzini, a senior political adviser in Downing Street, told around 80 Tory MPS facing tight re-elections last month to be ready for an election as early as autumn 2023. But whether Mr Johnson would call a snap election as the cost of living crisis bites and with a sizable polling deficit to Labour, when he could wait until 2024, remains unclear. Indeed, some Tory rebels are using the prospect of an early election to convince waverers the other way.

A one-page briefing note being pushed by some Tory MP critics of the Prime Minister over the weekend declares that Mr Johnson is “no longer an electoral asset”. The 14 bullet points include reference to an opinion poll that found a quarter of Conservative voters wanted Mr Johnson to resign and a claim that the partygate saga is “not going away”.

The origins of the note or how widely it is being shared are unclear, but its existence leaked to the media on yesterday underscored the internal debate playing out in the party.

An opinion poll published over the weekend showed the Tories could lose the by-election in Wakefield by 20 points, despite winning the seat at the December 2019 election. Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, yesterday predicted that there would be no confidence vote this week and downplayed the significance of negative polls.

♦ Boris Johnson must show “steel” and press ahead with plans to rip up the Northern Ireland Protocol, Lord Trimble, leader of the UUP when the 1998 accord was signed, has said. Lord Trimble said Brussels had “trashed” the agreement and that the Government now “cannot flunk” its “test of wills with the EU”.