British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party might be on the precipice of a mass exodus. As many as 100 MPs are planning to stand down before the parliamentary elections, according to a report by The Times, which cites senior Tory leaders.
A series of by-election losses and resignations, owing to scandals and protests over government policies have put the Sunak government in a crisis mode.
Many of the MPs fear they will lose their seats in the upcoming poll, while others are looking for jobs in the private sector.
According to experts, Tories are so far behind in the electoral race that top leaders are dropping the towel to avoid the post-election embarrassment.
“Why stick around to get smashed in an election and spend ten years in opposition,” one of the rebels was quoted as saying by the publication, adding that Sunak should stand down and let someone else lead the party.
This month alone, the likes of Sir Bob Neill, chair of the House of Commons justice committee, former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng and deputy chair Nickie Aiken have announced that they would be leaving parliament and not contest this year’s election.
Since embattled former prime minister Boris Johnson led the party to a substantial majority at the 2019 General Election, the Conservatives have now lost 10 by-elections in a single parliamentary term. The latest defeats came in Wellingborough and Kingswood where Labour managed a 28.5 per cent and 16.4 per cent vote swing.
After the by-election victories earlier this week, Labour leader Kier Starmer said the message was clear that the “country is crying out for change”.
“I was very pleased last night to see that we were clearly getting Tory switchers, in other words people who hadn’t voted for the Labour Party before, coming out last night and voting for the Labour Party in a by-election,” said Starmer.
Sunak has not done himself or his party any favours by faltering big time on the economic front. Fresh data released earlier this week showed that the UK economy slipped into recession in the second half of 2023 and grew by just 0.1 per cent.
The by-election results, coupled with the weak economic performance and the jumping of the ship by senior Tory leaders could prove disastrous for Sunak in the elections.
(With inputs from agencies)
