Suella Braverman: Tories will be lucky to have any MPs at the next election
Suella Braverman admits she regrets backing Rishi Sunak’s bid for Tory leader – ZUMAPRESS/Avalon
The Tories would be “lucky” to have any MPs left after the next election if Rishi Sunak does not urgently change course, Suella Braverman has warned.
The former home secretary said the Prime Minister must “own” the Conservative Party’s’ “terrible” local election results and move to the Right to get the party back on track, as she argued the current plan is “not working”.
She also said she regretted backing Mr Sunak for Tory leader, claiming he had broken a number of promises to her on migration and “transgender ideology” in schools.
But she said it is not “feasible” to change Prime Minister now, as there is “no superman or superwoman out there” who can transform the Tories’ fortunes in time.
It follows a dire weekend for the embattled party, with swathes of council seats lost across the country and a major blow on Saturday night with the shock loss of West Midlands mayor Andy Street.
Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Ms Braverman said many of her colleagues are “privately demoralised and incredibly concerned about their prospects”.
“At this rate, we’ll be lucky to have any Conservative MPs at the next election, and we need to fight,” she added.
Asked if she regretted supporting Mr Sunak’s bid for the Conservative leadership, Ms Braverman said: “Honestly, yes I do.
“Because I had assurances from Rishi Sunak that he was going to put a cap on legal migration, that he was going to do something about the European Convention on Human Rights, that he was going to fix this transgender ideology in our schools. He hasn’t done that.”
She said Tory voters are currently “on strike” in protest at Mr Sunak’s policies, urging him to move more towards the Right with more tax cuts and a cap on legal migration.
“The plan is not working and I despair at these terrible results,” she said. “There is no spinning these results, there is no disguising the fact that these have been terrible election results for the Conservatives and they suggest that we are heading to a Labour government and that fills me with horror.
“I love my country, I care about my party and I want us to win, and I am urging the Prime Minister to change course, to with humility reflect on what the voters are telling us, and change the plan and the way that he is communicating and leading us.”
Asked about whether she wanted to see a change in leader, Ms Braverman said: “I just don’t think that is a feasible prospect right now, we don’t have enough time and it is impossible for anyone new to come and change our fortunes to be honest.
“Rishi Sunak has been leading us for about 18 months, he has been making these decisions, these are consequences of those decisions. He needs to own this, and therefore he needs to fix it.”
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