Watch as Rishi Sunak faces Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, 24 January, after a senior Tory called for his resignation.
Sir Simon Clarke, who served in the Treasury while the now-prime minister was chancellor, said that Mr Sunak “is leading the Conservatives into an election where [they] will be massacred”.
“If we change the leader to a prime minister who shares the instincts of the majority and is willing to lead the country in the right direction, we will recover strongly in 2024,” the MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland wrote in the Telegraph.
Other senior Tories have warned against more damaging infighting before the public go to the polls this year.
Home secretary James Cleverly said it would be “foolish” to have further dissent within the party, arguing that it would leave the door open to Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour party.
Former defence secretary Ben Wallace echoed Mr Cleverly in dismissing Sir Simon’s call to oust Mr Sunak.
“Division and another PM would lead to the certain loss of power,” he said.
