As Rishi Sunak for confirmation of being Britain’s next prime minister, he is already termed as the “political equivalent of Henry VIII’s next wife: believing, despite all evidence to the contrary, that he will succeed where so many others have come a cropper”. Meanwhile, a section of media is saying, some of Rishi Sunak’s colleagues are already sharpening the axe in readiness for another execution.
They say, the Conservative Party has become so addicted to serial regicide that some of its MPs are predicting Rishi Sunak might struggle even to last as long as Liz Truss, and will be forced out like his three predecessors, unable to marshal the considerable majority built in 2019.
According to media reports, the Boris Johnson “ultras” in the party, like Sir Christopher Chope and Nadine Dorries, are muttering about rebellions, raising the prospect of an “ungovernable” Conservative Party giving the next leader no choice but to call an immediate general election, which Labour would almost certainly win.
With a working majority of 71, the new Tory leader could be brought down by a hardcore of just 36 right-wing rebels if they decided to consistently vote with Labour and block the Government’s ability to legislate.
Sir Christopher told Radio 4’s Today program on October 24 morning that without an election “we’re just going to go from bad to worse” with “continuing rebellions as we try to change policies”.
He added: “I must say I’m very pessimistic. I’m very angry, and I feel that Boris has been let down once again and undermined by our parliamentary colleagues”.
But there are reasons for Rishi Sunak to hope he can be the Catherine Parr of this story rather than another Anne Boleyn.
For a start, he has built a commanding majority of MP backers in the leadership race, giving him a mandate within the parliamentary party, if not the membership.
Equally importantly, Boris Johnson’s closest friends insist he is not minded to whip up his disciples into yet another civil war. Having conceded over the weekend that he would not be able to govern a parliamentary party that had moved decisively towards Mr Sunak, Mr Johnson is, friends insist, prepared to take a back seat, for now at least.
One ally of Boris Johnson said: “It’s true there is a small core of Johnsonites who will try to make life difficult for Rishi if he wins, like Edward Leigh, John Hayes, Christopher Chope and Craig Mackinlay, but they are a very small minority.
“Boris certainly hasn’t encouraged people to undermine Rishi and he won’t do because he had such a horrible time himself.
“I think he will take a back seat, because he has been very reflective over the past couple of days. A lot of us knew that it was just too early for him to come back”.
Plenty of Johnson supporters, including Cabinet ministers like Ben Wallace and Nadhim Zahawi, also have reason to be angry with Johnson himself, having publicly backed him only for the former prime minister to suddenly ditch his leadership bid.
Will hardcore Johnson supporters feel quite so rebellious after their man embarrassed them by insisting he was “up for it”, only to run away from the battlefield?
There is even speculation that Rishi Sunak could kill off the parliamentary inquiry into Boris Johnson’s statements on partygate in order to win over his supporters.
One Johnson supporter who spent the weekend calling MPs to seek their backing conceded that the party would indeed have been “ungovernable” if Johnson had won, with MPs threatening to go on strike or resign the whip, but that Sunak had a chance of keeping the party together because it knows he represents the final chance of staying in power.
