Sunak rules out May 2 general election as Tory rebels claim ‘vibe shift’

Rishi Sunak has ruled out holding a general election in early May as he fights for his future in the wake of multiple setbacks which have angered Conservative MPs.

Tory rebels have been emboldened by rows over the defection of Lee Anderson to Reform UK, and criticism of the Prime Minister for refusing to return £10m donated by a businessman who made racist comments about Diane Abbott.

Asked whether he was still considering holding a general election on 2 May, the same day as local elections are happening across much of the UK, Mr Sunak told ITV West Country: “There won’t be a general election on that day.”

Any other date in May is considered extremely unlikely because of the logistical difficulty in local authorities organising two sets of elections within a few weeks of each other.

Holding an early election had been floated as one way for the Prime Minister to stop rebellious MPs from seeking to replace him with a new leader. A source involved in the efforts to remove Mr Sunak which have been ongoing since late last year told i: “There has been a definite vibe shift this week. MPs have gone from being just resigned, totally vacant, quitting, to being actively angry.”

The source claimed that letters of no confidence in the leader were submitted by some MPs on Monday after Mr Anderson, the former party deputy chairman who had the whip suspended over racism claims, announced he was joining Reform UK.

A No 10 insider said Mr Sunak was planning to emphasise the Government’s plans on crime, immigration and the economy in the coming days – which will see the Safety of Rwanda Bill return to the House of Commons after its passage through the Lords, potentially paving the way for the long-delayed start of deportation flights to the east African country.

The insider said: “The thing we can control is talking to people about the things that really matter to people – like the economy, like immigration. This Government actually has a really good story to tell on crime rates since 2010 – and things are better in places we control than Labour-controlled areas like London. That’s what we have to be talking about in the eight weeks until the local elections.”

The Prime Minister insisted his party was not divided, saying: “I think actually the party is united in wanting to make sure that we don’t have the Labour government, because our plan is the right one for the country.

“And actually, we’ve been through a difficult couple of years. Of course that’s the case, whether it’s with Covid, recovering from that, the impact of the war in Ukraine. But the start of this year, we really have turned a corner and we’re now pointing in the right direction.”

But Sir Keir Starmer demanded a general election as soon as possible, saying: “Call it next week, call it for 2 May. The country, I think, overwhelmingly wants change. They want to put an end to 14 years of chaos and division and decline and have that chance to usher in a decade of national renewal.

“So I say to the Prime Minister, call it. Have the backbone to call it. Allow this to go to a general election on 2 May, we’re ready. Let’s test those arguments. We’ve got a very positive case to put to the country and the sooner I can make that case the better.”

Mr Sunak has continued to resist pressure to give up more than £10m of donations from Frank Hester, with news website Tortoise reporting that the businessman has given an extra £5m since the last set of Electoral Commission data on donations was published.

A Conservative party spokesperson refused to confirm or deny the claim, saying: “Declarable donations will be published by the Electoral Commission in the usual way.”

Asked whether he would reconsider keeping the money, the Prime Minister told broadcasters: “What he said was wrong and racist. I made that clear. And it’s right that he’s apologised for that. And where remorse is shown, I think that should be accepted.

“When someone has expressed genuine remorse or contrition for what they’ve done, which he has, it’s the right thing to do to accept that.”

Sayeeda Warsi, a former Tory party chair, became the latest party veteran to demand that the donation be returned. She told Times Radio: “They’ve got to give the money back. You don’t build election campaigns and you don’t build political parties on the back of money where an individual has these views.

“I mean, in my view, if any election that is built upon money, which in itself is based upon kind of these divisive, toxic views, it’s going to lead to divisive, toxic election campaigns. And I know that the party has more than enough money to be able to give back this £10m donation. We should give it back.”

Mr Hester’s £10m gift represented more than a fifth of all the donations declared by the Conservative party last year, according to i analysis of Electoral Commission figures.

He apologised for being “rude” to Ms Abbott after he joked that she made him want to hate all black women in comments from 2019 published this week by the Guardian.

Sir Keir told LBC: “There’s only one answer to returning that money. It’s a test for Rishi Sunak. He’s failing that test. And if this report is true, I think it raises serious questions about what his real motivation is in clinging on to that money in the current environment.”

Amid continuing Tory gloom, Sir Brandon Lewis has become the latest in a string of senior Conservatives to announce they are stepping down from Parliament when the election comes. The former Cabinet minister said on Thursday evening he would not stand for re-election after 14 years as MP for Great Yarmouth.