Tainted Brand A Good Day For Sunak - But Johnson Still A Huge Liability For The Tories

Just three weeks ago, Conservative MPs boarded buses for an away day of party bonding and a dose of reality about the Tories’ electoral position.

-  Jessica Elgot 

At the Conservatives’ awayday, the elections guru Isaac Levido gave MPs some reason to hope the next election was not yet lost – pointing to Rishi Sunak’s own personal ratings and the slower rate of direct Tory to Labour switchers.

The key factor would be party unity and message discipline, both he and Sunak have stressed. Yesterday was the day that strategy faced its biggest test.

First came a vote on the new Northern Ireland deal – an issue on which Sunak could demonstrate competence and delivery but which his enemies could use to expose the weakness of his own mandate.

And it was the return of the Boris Johnson show – a man whose ratings are at rock bottom with the general public but for whom many Tory party members still hold a torch.

The result of the vote was a moment of pure delight for the prime minister – who was in the voting lobbies thanking both Labour and Tory MPs for backing him, as well as enthusiastically greeting his Northern Ireland minister, Steve Baker , the former Brexit “Spartan” who had co ordinated successful rebellions over Britain’s departure from the EU.

Baker’s conversion to the cause of compromise has been instrumental. Once the key organiser of the European Research Group, he is now a champion of Sunak’s deal. For his eff orts, he was thrown out of the ERG’s WhatsApp group, after saying Johnson risked being a “poundshop Nigel Farage ”.