Tory MPs have launched a new drive to remove Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister after the Budget failed to improve his polling figures – with Boris Johnson top of their wish-list as his replacement.
The moves are being co-ordinated by long-term Boris fans, led by Lady McAlpine.
The widow of construction tycoon Sir William McAlpine, she played a key role in organising a recent meeting of more than 50 MPs and peers to be talked through polling data she had funded.
This poll concluded that only Mr Johnson could save the Tories from a catastrophic defeat.
One MP at the meeting, which was held shortly before the Budget, said: ‘I previously thought it would be too reckless to remove yet another Prime Minister, but now I don’t think we have any choice.’
Tory MPs have launched a drive to remove Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister after the Budget failed to improve his polling figures – with Boris Johnson top of their wish-list as the replacement
Boris Johnson waves from the door of Number 10, shortly after he was elected as Prime Minister in July 2019
Last night Lady McAlpine said the Budget – which cut 2p from National Insurance but did not include any dial-shifting surprises – had not altered her view that the party needed a change of leadership.
She told The Mail on Sunday: ‘As far as I am concerned the Tory party is rotten to the core. We need new Conservative values, and Boris is the person to deliver that.
‘He is the only person with the charisma to lead the party to success. We need Boris back.’
In December, the Mail revealed that Mr Sunak’s Tory enemies drew what they crudely call an ‘Advent calendar of s**t’ to further destabilise the Prime Minister following his sacking of Suella Braverman as Home Secretary and the resignation of Robert Jenrick as Immigration Minister.
Since Jeremy Hunt delivered his Budget on Wednesday, the Tories’ standing in the polls has fallen as low as 18 per cent, with Nigel Farage’s Reform just five per cent behind.
If repeated at a general election, the Conservatives would be wiped out as a political force.
Last night, a former Cabinet Minister said: ‘If Boris came back for the General Election it could save as many as 80 MPs. It would give Conservatives hope, a reason to vote.
‘If Boris is out in the cold, voters will simply stay at home and sit on their hands. The party needs to wake up fast – these weeks before the local elections could be crucial.’
Plans are afoot to replace Prime Minister Rishi Sunak with his predecessor Boris Johnson
Since Jeremy Hunt delivered his Budget on Wednesday, the Tories’ standing in the polls has fallen as low as 18 per cent
Last month, the leader of Reform UK ruled out an election pact with Sunak after the party secured 13 per cent of the vote in Northamptonshire and 10 per cent in South Gloucestershire, with Conservative rebels warning they face an ‘extinction-level event’ at the election.
Lady McAlpine is also influential in the Henley area, where members of the local association have discussed parachuting Mr Johnson back into his former seat before the election to allow him to stand as party leader.
It would involve the current candidate, Caroline Newton, stepping aside for Mr Johnson at the last moment – but helpfully Ms Newton is a long-standing ally of the former PM.
MPs in the Conservative Democratic Organisation (CDO), formed by disaffected Tories after the removal of Mr Johnson as leader, are playing a key role in the plotting.
The CDO, which was founded by Tory donor Peter Cruddas and is backed by the likes of Priti Patel, Jacob Rees-Mogg and Nadine Dorries, led criticism of the Budget for ‘offering nothing for working people’.
It came as Rishi Sunak confirmed his ‘long-term ambition’ to scrap National Insurance and signalled he will pay for it by cutting the welfare bill – including working-age benefits.
He told the Sunday Times: ‘We should be encouraging everyone who can to work’ as that was fair ‘to the entire system, but also to make sure that we can sustainably keep cutting taxes’.
MPs and peers think Boris should front the referendum campaign to ‘square off’ Nigel Farage, according to plans put forward by a powerful Tory faction
This comes as MPs and peers have said holding a referendum to quit the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) on the same day as the General Election is the only way to see off the threat from Reform UK.
They think Boris should front the referendum campaign to ‘square off’ Nigel Farage, according to plans put forward by a powerful Tory faction.
The idea of a ‘Super Thursday’ double poll has been gaining support after being developed by the influential group of ‘New Conservative’ MPs as a last-ditch attempt to save their party.
The plan has been led by former Tory deputy chairman Brendan Clarke-Smith and senior backers are understood to include former Brexit negotiator Lord David Frost.
The joint referendum-and-Election plan is being presented as the only way to avoid a Tory electoral wipeout.
A spokesman for Mr Johnson distanced him from the plotting, saying: ‘Boris fully supports the Government’