Tory factions threaten to wreck Sunak's conference

PM's hopes of uniting party founder amid tax and culture war battles

- Peter Walker , Aubrey Allegretti

Rishi Sunak is struggling to hold together his fractured party as the first day of the Conservative conference saw attempts at a united front collapse into rival groups battling over tax, culture wars and the fight to be the next Tory leader.

In his own carefully planned comments, the prime minister used interviews and a rally in Manchester to portray himself as a figure of change, making difficult but necessary long-term choices above the fray of petty politics.

But with the event already at risk of being overshadowed by Sunak's continued refusal to say whether HS2 will extend to the city, away from the main conference stage a variety of Tory factions jostled to have their say.

In perhaps the most damning comment of the day, Ben Houchen, the Tees Valley mayor and long viewed as a Tory rising star, said he would not bet on his party winning the next election. "Not at the moment," he said at a fringe event, adding that Sunak needed to "do more to give people the excuse" to vote Conservative.

Sunak was also coming under increasing pressure to commit to reducing tax before the election, something No 10 wants to do, but approaches with extreme caution given the fiscal repercussions of Liz Truss's unfunded tax cuts.

After more than 30 largely Trusssympathetic Tory MPs signed a highly unusual and borderline rebellious pledge that they will not vote for an autumn statement that raises taxes, Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, called for cuts to personal taxes.