Rishi Sunak faces call to step down as polls worsen for Tories

Writing in yesterday’s Telegraph, Simon Clarke, the former levelling up secretary, said that “extinction is a very real possibility” for his party with their leader remaining in post.

“The unvarnished truth is that Rishi Sunak is leading the Conservatives into an election where we will be massacred,” he wrote.

Mr Clarke voiced concerns that several backbench colleagues privately share, but several senior party figures hit back on Tuesday night, with Yorkshire’s David Davis accusing Mr Clarke of putting his “own leadership ambitions ahead of the UK’s best interests”.

During yesterday’s Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer exchanged personal insults during a bad tempered exchange at the dispatch box.

“We have seen this story time and time again with this lot: party first, country second,” said Sir Keir.

“Safely ensconced in Westminster, they get down to the real business of fighting each other to death. The country forced to endure their division and chaos, the longest episode of EastEnders ever put to film.”

The Labour leader also attacked the Prime Minister’s latest childcare plan, as education leaders warned parents are set to miss out on the Government’s flagship offer.

Families are currently in “limbo” with nurseries unable to confirm if they can offer places under the Government’s new 15 hours of funded childcare for two-year-olds.

Mr Sunak said the Government is “delivering the biggest ever expansion of childcare in this country’s history” before suggesting this will be put at risk under a Labour government by their green spending plans.

Downing Street yesterday rejected suggestions that Mr Sunak did not have the support of his party following Mr Clarke’s comments.

The Prime Minister’s press secretary said: “We recognise that he’s in a different place to some other MPs that have come out today. He’s entitled to his view but that won’t distract us from getting on with what matters to people.”

It comes as new polling suggested that Labour’s lead amongst voters is higher in the marginal seats it needs to win for a majority at the next election.

A YouGov survey commissioned by the Fabians found that Labour leads the Conservatives by 24 points nationally, but by 34 points in the 150 key marginal seats it needs to win.

It also found that 43 per cent of voters said they would “never” consider voting Tory at the next election, compared with 25 per cent who said the same of Sir Keir Starmer’s party.

Fabian Society Research Manager, and author of the report Ben Cooper said: “At the start of this parliament, the Fabian Society released analysis of marginal seats showing the huge mountain Labour had to climb to return to government in one term.

“This new polling data shows the party may be able to turn a mountain into a molehill.

“However, Labour is right to argue that there is no room for complacency.

“The significant portion of ‘don’t know’ voters and levels of support for Reform shows that there is still a lot of work to do between now and poling day to turn an opinion poll of marginal seats into real election results.”