Sunday shows round-up: Ousting Boris was a mistake, says Rees-Mogg

‘Managed decline’, or ‘steely determination’?

The fallout from the Conservatives’ disastrous local election results continued this week, with the inaugural conference of the rebellious Conservative Democratic Organisation. During the conference, former home secretary Priti Patel accused Rishi Sunak of presiding over the ‘managed decline’ of the Tory party. Energy Secretary Grant Shapps was determined to spin his party’s predicament in a more positive light however, telling Sophy Ridge there was an atmosphere of ‘steely determination’ among his fellow MPs: 

Shapps – ‘Sunak’s pledge was to grow the economy and we’re starting to see it grow’

Shapps rejected the notion that the Conservatives needed to make significant changes. He told Laura Kuenssberg they would stay the course on Sunak’s five main pledges, and claimed some measure of progress on growing the economy had already been achieved by avoiding a recession. Kuenssberg pointed out that growth of 0.1 per cent could hardly be called a success: 

Jacob Rees-Mogg – if Tories change leader again they will be ‘toast’

Sophy Ridge also spoke to Jacob Rees-Mogg, another attendee of the Conservative Democratic Organisation conference, about the turbulence in the Conservative party.