UK PM Rishi Sunak’s headship in turmoil amid infighting

London, March 17

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A United Kingdom minister came out strongly in defence of his party leader Rishi Sunak on Sunday as the increasingly beleaguered PM attempts to ride out infighting within the ranks, with sections to the right of the governing Conservative Party calling for a leadership change ahead of a general election this year.

PM Rishi Sunak has ruled out the prospect of an early election in May and with possibly months before he decides to go to the electorate, the murmurings of rebellion within the Tory ranks fearful of losing their seats seem to be growing at a steady pace.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper was directly asked during a TV interview if he thinks Sunak will be the leader of the Conservative Party at the general election. “Yes he will,” Harper told ‘Sky News’. “The plan is working, we’re driving down inflation, we’re reducing people’s taxes,” he said.

According to ‘The Daily Telegraph’, a meeting is understood to have taken place this weekend between leading figures on the right wing of the Tory party and prominent supporters of Mordaunt from when she previously ran for the Tory leadership after the exit of Boris Johnson as PM in 2022.

“Some right-wing MPs met with Team Penny this week, where they expressed the view they were prepared to back her. They take the view that Penny is preferable to Rishi Sunak right now. Penny Mordaunt is now seen as the most likely person to stem the losses,” the newspaper quoted a source as saying.