Rishi Sunak could be forced out in six months, says Labour as ‘fuming’ Tories cancel membership

Incoming prime minister Rishi Sunak could be forced out as Conservative leader by disgruntled Boris Johnson loyalists within six months, according to Labour.

It comes as some Tory supporters have cancelled their memberships after Mr Sunak was named as Liz Truss’s successor, with one saying they felt the party had been “destroyed from within”.

While some grassroots Tories felt “delighted” by the news, others said the move has left them “fuming” that members were not able to vote for candidates to take over at No 10.

Labour’s shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said Johnson supporters in the Commons would continue the “chaos” of rebellion, as he repeated the opposition’s call for a general election.

“The public are clamouring for a say,” he told BBC Two’s Newsnight. “The Conservative Party is a sclerotic mess. They are chaotic.

“And who’s to say Rishi Sunak isn’t going to be out in six months’ time because you can hear the knives sharpening in Westminster of the disgruntled Borisites ... who still think Rishi knifed Boris Johnson in the back.”

Mr Sunak is expected to address the nation around 11.35am on Tuesday, before entering No 10 as the UK’s first Hindu prime minister, the first of Asian heritage, and the youngest for more than 200 years at the age of 42.

But Johnson loyalists have questioned his mandate. Nadine Dorries said Mr Sunak faces “a very difficult situation” because he “didn’t have a mandate from the public to lead the Conservative Party”.

She told TalkTV: “What Boris Johnson knew about Partygate, Rishi knew. Rishi was fined as well … Why do you think Boris is more guilty of Partygate than Rishi is?”

Former Tory PMs David Cameron and Theresa May were quick to congratulate the incoming PM. But Mr Johnson has not yet publicly congratulated Mr Sunak – a sign of remaining animosity after complaining on Sunday that his ex-chancellor would not “come together in the national interest” with him.

Calling for unity behind Mr Sunak, Iain Duncan Smith said Mr Johnson had been “begging people for votes” in a “demeaning” Tory leadership bid before withdrawing on Sunday night.

Tamara Wood, chair of Telford Conservative Association, said she was angry at the Sunak “coronation” after being installed by the parliamentary party. “I have to say the membership, the officers, and some of our current counsellors and candidates are very unhappy,” she told Radio 4’s Today programme.

Ben Harris-Quinney, head of the right-wing Bow Group think tank, said tens of thousands of members will leave the party. “The fact that it was a coronation is a terrible advert for the Conservative Party and the nation,” he said.

Samuel Jukes, a retail worker Tory member from Birmingham who supports Mr Johnson, said a general election should now be called as Mr Sunak “has no mandate”.

“I’m fuming right now, we never voted for Rishi Sunak,” the 33-year-old said. “Rishi has no mandate. Right now I’m ashamed to be a Conservative member.”

Lyn Bond, a 60-year-old retired nurse, cancelled her membership after Ms Mordaunt failed to receive 100 nominations and it was confirmed Mr Sunak will lead the party without a contest.

“It has been destroyed from within,” Ms Bond told the PA news agency. “I can’t bring myself after 40 years to support them anymore, I don’t trust them. Very unsettling ... It’s insidious the way they’ve got Rishi Sunak in – they wanted him in, and he’s in.”

But some members of Conservative associations as well as local councillors said they were “delighted” by how the contest played out.

Carole Jones, a Tory councillor for Dorset Council, also said: “I’m quite pleased we didn’t have a vote,” before telling ministers to “get their bloody act together”.

Polling indicates the struggle Mr Sunak faces in winning back the public to the Tory party. The latest YouGov survey shows Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is favoured as the “best PM” in 389 constituencies – compared to Mr Sunak coming out on top in only 127.

Some 38 per cent said they were pleased he will take on the top job, while 41 per cent said they were disappointed. A majority – 56 per cent – wanted Mr Sunak to call an early general election.

Tory MP Victoria Atkins, a senior Sunak backer, said there was no reason for an election because “we’ve got a lot to deal with”.

She told Sky News on Tuesday: “We elect a party. It’s a Conservative manifesto in 2019. We don’t have a presidential system.”

Senior Tory MP Robert Halfon, a Sunak backer, said the Tories would be lucky to get “one last chance” to regain public trust after the disastrous mini-Budget.

“If we’re lucky, we’re going to be given one last chance by the public,” he told Times Radio. “Most people in the party want to come together and recognise that we have to be unified, not for just the sake of the party, but for the sake of the country.”