Sticking with Sunak lets Tory MPs take the fight to Labour

IN THE wake of another Tory MP defecting to Labour, the temptation to conclude that Rishi Sunak's party is heading for its worst-ever landslide defeat is overwhelming.

- Patrick O'Flynn

Especially given that the crossing of the aisle by Dover MP Natalie Elphicke came so soon after the mauling the Conservatives received in elections a week ago. And yet, there is a different story also to be told about how things may pan out.

Believe it or not, there is a case for saying the Tories are better off than they might have been. This is not because they fared any better at the elections than was expected - the results were just as disastrous as forecast. But it is because Tory MPs have made a clear decision not to dive into yet another leadership contest and concluded instead that they must now sink or swim with Sunak.

Three weeks ago, I was sitting in a pub with a Tory Cabinet source and he told me the overwhelming likelihood was that enough letters would go in from MPs in the month of May to trigger a motion of no confidence in Sunak.

He predicted Sunak would win the confidence vote by a ratio of about two to one, but emerge even further weakened. And the parliamentary party in general would have succeeded only in dragging Tory poll ratings down even further via another protracted bout of navel-gazing and attempted regicide.