Former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has told Tory MPs to abandon thoughts of replacing the Prime Minister and instead “march towards the sound of guns”.
In a morbid message implying that the election will be a political bloodbath on par with the Somme or the Charge of the Light Brigade, Mr Wallace warned it is “too late” to replace Mr Sunak.
The former Tory cabinet minister told Times Radio: “There comes a moment in time in the electoral cycle where you effectively put on your best suit, you stand up and you march towards the sound of the guns and you get on with it”.
He added: “Rishi Sunak is the Prime Minister. He set out his plan. He set out his idea and vision, which I think is to effectively, quite rightly, fix the economy, get inflation down.
“If we get inflation down, we can see interest rates drop.
“Whether colleagues are happy with him or not, it’s too late. Get on with it. Stand up. And you know, at some stage this year, commit to engage in the general election and put our best case forward”.
Mr Wallace claimed: “There is no other alternative, and that’s just the reality of it.”
However increased briefings this weekend suggest a number of Tory MPs increasingly believe that Penny Mordaunt would be a viable alternative, despite the political chaos of appointing a fourth Prime Minister since 2019 without the public having a say.
Reacting to Mr Wallace, one Tory MP slammed his morose claim as “insane”, portraying the latest pro-Rishi Sunak defence as: “You’re all going to die, so just get on with it”.
Sir Simon Clarke, who is one of just two Tory MPs to publicly call on Mr Sunak to be ousted, compared Mr Wallace’s words about walking into gunfire to the final scene of Blackadder, when the troop was ordered over the top of the trenches.
Sir Simon tweeted a screengrab of the famous scene, in which Captain Blackadder dryly tells Private Baldock: “I mean, who would have noticed another madman around here”.
A senior Tory who viewed Mr Wallace’s command to march towards open gunfire as a comparison with the Charge of the Light Brigade pointed out to GB News’ Tom Harwood: “The Light Brigade suffered 110 dead and 161 injured out of 670 – a casualty rate of about 40%”.
“We are talking about a casualty rate of 60% on current polling (if we retain 150/365)”.
On Saturday, it was claimed by the Telegraph that a group of right-wing Tory MPs want Penny Mordaunt to lead them into the next election.
Another option being considered by MPs, revealed by the Express yesterday, is Defence Secretary Grant Shapps.
A senior MP said: “I don’t think there will be a contest, but if there were the only chance of improving the party’s fortunes are to chose a candidate from the right”.
“All the polls show that in this election the party needs to improve its standing on the right with a radically different approach on immigration. That’s the only hope and you need a leader who would do that.”
Another MP said conversations about replacing Mr Sunak are “really serious” and suggested that while Ms Mordaunt wouldn’t be their first choice for leader, they would “unhesitatingly” back her if it meant getting rid of the Prime Minister.
