Former cabinet minister Sir Simon Clarke has called on Rishi Sunak to resign as prime minister.
The Tory MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, who served as housing secretary under Liz Truss, said in The Telegraph: “Rishi Sunak has sadly gone from asset to anchor.”
Politics latest: Reaction to Clarke’s call for PM to go
He added: “It is time to strip away illusion, and stop tolerating any indulgence of it.
“Our country, with all the challenges we face, is on the brink of being run by Keir Starmer’s Labour for a decade or more.
“If Nigel Farage returns to the fray, as looks increasingly likely, extinction is a very real possibility for our party.
“And it is now beyond doubt that whilst the prime minister is far from solely responsible for our present predicament, his uninspiring leadership is the main obstacle to our recovery.”
Sir Simon, a staunch ally of Mr Sunak‘s short-lived predecessor, was one of 11 Conservative MPs to vote against the prime minister’s Rwanda bill last week after what was mooted to be a sizeable rebellion fizzled out after attempts to toughen up the scheme failed.
His intervention comes amid myriad struggles for the prime minister, including falling approval ratings and unhappiness from across the political divide with the Rwanda deportation plan.
Sir Simon has also been critical of government policy on housing and wind power.
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