Rishi Sunak has taken aim at a minority of Tory rebels who he said were “harming every one of us” while addressing his MPs on Wednesday.
Tories reacted warmly to the Prime Minister’s performance at the 1922 Committee with frequently sustained banging of tables – up to one minute long at points.
He is understood to have said that a “small number” of Tories are making him angry, adding that they “aren’t just harming me, they are harming every one of us in this room.”
Tory MPs slammed the small number of rebels by calling on them to “shut up” and warning they “harm us all”.
One MP who attended the 1922 Committee meeting said: “It’s only a very few people who think changing the PM is a good idea.”
They added: “Didn’t see [Robert] Jenrick in there – assume he was installing phone lines somewhere for a leadership bid that will never get off the ground.”
Former Business Secretary Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said he was supporting Mr Sunak adding: “May he go on as long as Walpole”, who served as Prime Minister for 21 years.
Another Tory MP said Mr Sunak’s almost hour-long performance was “the best we’ve seen him in a while”.
Speaking to gathered journalists afterward, Tory backbencher Jonathan Gullis insisted there was broad support for Mr Sunak, adding he wanted to “call out those idiots for being idiots” when asked about the Prime Minister’s critics.
He said: “People don’t vote for divided parties.”
But Sir Jake Berry confronted Mr Sunak about supposed briefings against him over the weekend that the former party chair alleged came from No 10.
He said he would stay loyal and has not submitted a letter of no confidence.
Mr Sunak suffered another blow when a pro-Boris Johnson MP blasted those who brought Mr Johnson down but are now calling for unity.
Sir James Duddridge took aim at his colleagues in a Tory Whatsapp group where he said: “Absolutely one team or we fall. Once we failed to back Boris we were ******. You reap what you sow.”
Mr Sunak also clashed with Sir Keir Starmer at the despatch box during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.
The PM claimed the Labour leader’s values are “not those of the British people” when Sir Keir accused him of being “scared” to call an election.
Mr Sunak said his “working assumption” remains that a general election will take place in the second half of the year, following taunts by Sir Keir.
The Prime Minister responded to his Rwanda deportation plan for asylum seekers being labelled a “gimmick” by claiming Labour “don’t actually care about fixing this issue”.
He went on to highlight Labour’s opposition to Government legislation aimed at tackling people smuggling gangs, adding 900 people have been arrested and 450 convicted.
Referring to Sir Keir, Mr Sunak said: “If it was up to him, those criminals would still be out on our streets and the truth is, if he wasn’t the Labour leader he’d still want to be their lawyer.”
Mr Sunak said he was still waiting to hear how Labour would pay for increased borrowing, adding the Government’s plan is “working”.
He added: “That is the choice: higher taxes and back to square one with Labour or tax cuts and real change with the Conservatives.”
