Is it too late for Sunak to fall on his sword? Matthew Parris in Times

[Westfacing]

Matthew Parris is pondering whether the Tories could have another leader before the election!

A bit far-fetched... surely? But then again...

Is it too late for Sunak to fall on his sword? (thetimes.com)

@SerendipityJane
I can believe that. I can see him having a little book with every single slight he has every experienced (real or imagined) tucked into his suit pocket"

Yep. Goes with the petulant "You're not my real mum" tone. (Courtesy of James O'Brian)

True but some would say you can never be too rich.

With an election going on and major world events happening, you seriously think Parris was scratching around for something to write about?

FilthyRich · Yesterday 16:14
I think it will be a hung parliament. The Tories will cling on by a whisker. Sunak will resign”

What are you basing this on?

Wishful thinking?

I saw a brilliant tweet last week which simply said, in the words of Sunak:

'I'm NOT tetchy.'

😂

@MrsSkylerWhite , @pointythings , definitely not wishful thinking.

Delusional then.

Or possibly too afraid to hope, which would be a fair enough position. But after the last two weeks, I've lost any lingering doubt that it's going to be political annihilation for the Tories on the 4th.

The Independent had an article about how we could have a record low turnout - I'm not sure they're right about that either, I think a lot of people are more angry than apathetic. But anything that highlights the dangers of complacency is fine by me.

I noticed the BBC Poll Tracker now has votes for the conservatives at the same low % it was when Truss wrecked the economy (22%).

That's surely eye watering, for Sunak: He now has the same level of the votes as the woman almost universally agreed to have been the biggest joke of a PM we've ever had.

Completely agree, this is why it won't happen.

There's absolutely no incentive for anyone to take over - and whoever did so might lose their seat anyway. No one's sure if there even is a safe Tory seat anymore and certainly the main leadership candidates aren't in them.

I think they had the chance for Sunak to admit his terrible mistake and resign on Friday with Mordaunt stepping in as I am not sure Cameron can

I think that has possibly passed now and it’s too late

I wouldn’t put it passed them to and I think it could possible win back a few Reform voters which I would be happy with as Labour shall win the election

It's funny, the idea that Rishi Sunak is now seen as tetchy.

Because so was Jeremy Corbyn.

And both do have similarities - I think they have been in largely pretty safe seats and they're not quite politicians, they never really had to persuade or bring anyone along with them. Corbyn was no great orator and was known for preaching to the converted. Neither like being challenged.

On top of which, Sunak is ironically now at the Corbyn stage of his premiership, in that the press reckon he's a goner and can start to bait him for sport, kind of egging on the narrative.

How about Farage being opposition leader? Seems they’ll get more votes than libdems! In reality, I could see the SNP being the opposition due to number of MPs - that would shake things up a bit.

FilthyRich · Today 13:58
@MrsSkylerWhite , @pointythings , definitely not wishful thinking”

Please point to what you are basing your assumption on. Would be very interesting to see.

With FPTP the number of votes is irrelevant. If Reform gets more than two seats I’ll be very surprised. There will be very few SNP MPs on 5 July, it’s a busted flush for the time being.

Absolutely this. This piece was absolutely written for a reason. It has a very clear message behind it. Even the loyal have abandoned Sunak. He will stay. Everyone knows this, but when loyal supporters are raising this question, is makes an enormous point to the readers. In this case Tory voters. The message is that Sunak is a spent force and whatever happens will be out post election. Perhaps that will encourage some to vote Tory in the knowledge he's out and the hope they will get someone like Mordant next.

@MrsSkylerWhite , Please point to what you are basing your assumption on. Would be very interesting to see.
Not an assumption, just what I think might happen.
It looks now like Labour will win easily but that might cause complacency on the day of the election.
I'm in a 'safe seat', and many locally are saying they will vote LibDem, but the majority vote will almost certainly still go to the same party.
The majority will be much smaller.

Most analysis suggests it - Rishi's attempt to sow fear of tax rises blew up in his face and most people know the Tories have put up taxes in recent years so are in no position to talk.

He's got money but needed to upgrade his status/ class for his children's future.

His children have £million trust funds. They are richer than him thanks to their mum and grandfather. Fwiw, his fil, despite being a billionnaire still lives in the modest flat he had before he made his money, that they brought their children up in. He may be a billionnaire but I don't think he'd be that impressed by Rishi!