Rishi Sunak pleads for Tory unity ahead of the next general election as he says party are ‘starting to see the fruits’ of togetherness as Labour’s lead narrows – but PM dodges question on whether Boris Johnson could return to Cabinet
- PM tells his party that ‘coming together’ is ‘the best way to win the next election’
Rishi Sunak today issued a fresh plea for Tory unity as he said the Conservatives were ‘starting to see the fruits’ of party togetherness since the turmoil of last year.
The Prime Minister told his party that ‘coming together, focusing on delivering for people’ is ‘the best way to win the next election’.
He urged the Tories to ‘look forward’ and repeated his message for Conservative MPs to ‘unite or die’.
Mr Sunak, who became PM following the dramatic downfalls of Boris Johnson and then Liz Truss within the space of three-and-a-half months, praised his predecessrs ‘who want to contribute still to public life’.
But he dodged a question on whether Mr Johnson could return to the Cabinet under his premiership.
Rishi Sunak, pictured leaving CCHQ after his ConservativeHome interview, issued a fresh plea for Tory unity
The Prime Minister used the interview to tell his party that ‘coming together, focusing on delivering for people’ is ‘the best way to win the next election’.
Mr Sunak dodged a question on whether Boris Johnson could return to the Cabinet under his premiership
A Redfield & Wilton Strategies poll, conducted on Easter Sunday, revealed Labour’s lead had been cut to 14 per cent – the smallest lead for Sir Keir Starmer since Mr Sunak became PM
Mr Sunak has set out five immediate priorities for his time as PM on the economy, NHS waiting lists and the Channel migrant crisis.
He has also been successful in striking a new deal with the EU over post-Brexit trade rules for Nothern Ireland, reaching a pay deal with some NHS workers to end strikes, and completing UK membership of a Indo-Pacific trade pact.
This has coincided with signs of a slight improvement in the Tories’ opinion poll rating, with recent research showing a narrowing of Labour’s lead.
A Redfield & Wilton Strategies survey, conducted on Easter Sunday, revealed Labour’s lead had been cut to 14 per cent – the smallest lead for Sir Keir Starmer’s party since Mr Sunak became PM.
In an interview with the ConservativeHome website this afternoon, Mr Sunak insisted that voters were ‘fed up with talk and want action’ as he called on his party to move on from the bitter infighting of last year.
‘I think we’ve got to, as a party, look forward,’ the PM said. ‘I said that on the first day I became Prime Minister, I said to the party “we’ve got to unite or die”.
‘I reiterated that in the ’22 (meeting of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers) that I did just before we finished for the Easter recess, when I was talking to colleagues again.
‘And the point I made to them, actually, we are starting to see the fruits of what a united party can do… we are getting on and actually making a difference on a range of different areas that matter.’
Mr Sunak added that ‘coming together, focusing on delivering for people’ is ‘the best way to win the next election’.
‘That’s why I just say to everybody: look, the past is the past, we’ve got to look forward and we are not going to be able to achieve anything if we are not united as a party and that’s what I’ve been trying very hard to say to colleagues,’ he continued.
But the PM swerved a question on whether Mr Johnson could return to the Cabinet.
Mr Sunak declined to comment on possible Government appointments and said he had ‘a great team’ who ‘are focused on delivering’.
He added: ‘It’s great that we’ve got former prime ministers who want to contribute still to public life and feel that they can do that, that’s a good thing and we should welcome that.’
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