It’s the week of the local elections and the most pivotal of Rishi Sunak’s premiership to date. It’s been clear for some time now that the Prime Minister’s critics will attempt to rally MPs to turn on Sunak if the party faces a drubbing in Thursday’s vote. This is more than the odd unhappy MP: a group of ragtag plotters – including one-time donors and former government advisers – is agitating from outside parliament to destabilise Sunak.
Most MPs believe that Sunak ought to be able to hold on
Downing Street has used the past few days to try to shore up Sunak with a series of party-friendly announcements, including a boost to defence spending, a benefits cracking down and the passing of the Safety of Rwanda bill into law. Less helpful for Sunak is the announcement that one of his MPs, Dan Poulter, has defected to Labour. However, as Mr Steerpike’s report
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