Crisis? What Crisis? Mark Harper insists improving economy will save the Tories
Transport Secretary Mark Harper has insisted the plan is working despite dire election results (JEFF OVERS / BBC / AFP)
Mark Harper has insisted the general election is still winnable for the Conservatives as he dismissed calls for the party to change approach despite a battering in the local elections.
The Transport Secretary was adamant that Rishi Sunak’s “plan is working” amid growing calls from both moderate and right wing Tories for the Prime Minister to change tack going into the national polls.
“We have a plan, and the plan is working but we’re not all the way through yet,” he told the BBC. “People want to see delivery, right? So they want to see inflation continue to come down. They want to see the boats stop. They want to see NHS waiting lists continue to fall. We’ve made a lot of progress on that, but we’re not all of the way there.”
His comments came in the wake of the Conservatives losing its mayoralty in the West Midlands, receiving a drubbing in the London mayoral race and the party suffering its worst set of council results in 40 years.
The phrase “Crisis? What crisis?” was used to paraphrase former Labour prime minister’s Jim Callaghan’s response to the Winter of Discontent in the 1970s, when he denied there was “mounting chaos” in the country being torn apart by industrial action.
The Prime Minister is being pulled in opposite directions by his own party, who fear his approach will lead them to a historic defeat in the general election.
Former home secretary Suella Braverman said the dire local election results showed that Tory voters were “on strike” as she demanded Mr Sunak move further to the right, urging him to introduce a cap on migrants, to leave the European Convention on Human Rights and to slash income tax.
Asked for her evidence of a need to shift further to the right, she said: “The evidence is that people are not voting for what he is doing because they don’t believe that we are serious about some of these issues.”
When asked if she regretted supporting Mr Sunak’s leadership, Ms Braverman said: “Honestly, yes I do.”
In contrast, Andy Street, who was defeated in his attempt to secure a third term as the Tory mayor for the West Midlands, said his campaign showed that the party could succeed if it made a more liberal offer to voters.
Mr Street said his brand of “moderative, inclusive, tolerant Conservatism, that gets on and delivered” nearly defeated Labour in one of its strongholds.
Asked if he was worried about the Tories drifting to the right, he replied: “I would definitely not advise that drift.
And he added: “The message is clear: winning from that centre ground is what happens.”
Conservative former minister Dame Andrea Jenkyns claimed the results showed that the party needed Boris Johnson to return to the “front line of politics”.
She told Sky News’: “I think now we’ve got to take the fight to Labour, I would like to see real common sense conservatism, honouring our manifesto commitments, I would like to see the return of Boris on the front line of politics, whether that’s going for a seat in the next election and being front and centre of our election campaign.
Asked if she could see Johnson and Sunak campaigning together on joint visits, she said: “I haven’t spoken to Boris, I haven’t spoken to the Prime Minister about this, but I’m an optimist, I’m not sure whether they’d share a stage together, but look how wonderful it is Boris campaigning in these elections.”
Dame Andrea submitted a letter of no-confidence in Rishi Sunak in November.