Mass strike by Tory MPs ahead of surprise general election hits Rishi Sunak

July 16, 2024

Rishi Sunak was warned he was losing control of his own MPs after being caught up in a mass strike in the final days of his term in office.

The pressure Mr Sunak was under before he shocked Westminster by calling an early election was reflected in the fact that the then Prime Minister was told that the situation was untenable.

In a single day, Conservative whips received requests from around 200 Tory MPs – well over half of the parliamentary party – to be excused from the vote, a former senior Downing Street insider said.

This term allows MPs to avoid a party vote, often by assigning them an opposition MP who is also not in Westminster that day.

Rishi Sunak announced his intention to resign as Tory leader in his farewell speech in Downing Street (James Manning/PA) (PA cable)

The former 10 Downing Street insider said Mr Sunak’s government had only lost one vote in the House of Commons during his time in office.

However, he said the Prime Minister had been warned that the situation was untenable as hundreds of Tory MPs tried to avoid the vote.

The Tories won an 80-seat majority in 2019, leading to speculation that the victory could guarantee the party ten years in power.

But after the Partygate scandal that rocked Boris Johnson’s government and Liz Truss’s disastrous “mini-budget”, the Tories suffered a loss of MPs.

Due to a series of defeats in by-elections and defections, the party’s lead over the opposition eventually shrank to just 38 points.

But that figure was misleading, as Tory MPs went on strike in protest against Sunak’s leadership or ignored Westminster altogether to stay in their constituencies and fight to save their jobs in the upcoming election.

Following the scandals surrounding Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, the Tories suffered a loss of MPs (Victoria Jones/PA)

His surprise decision to call a general election ultimately meant Mr Sunak only suffered defeat in the House of Commons as Tory MPs rebelled to bring down their own government and opposed compensation for victims of the NHS infected blood scandal.

They voted 246 to 242 to force ministers to speed up payments after 22 Conservatives voted against the party’s bid.

At the time, the Haemophilia Society said Mr Sunak “should be ashamed” of being forced to “do the right thing”.

The Independent announced last week that the prospect of a sharp rise in mortgage payments for hundreds of thousands of voters had prompted Rishi Sunak to call an early general election.

Mr Sunak suffered only one defeat in the House of Commons, when Tory MPs rebelled against their own government over compensation for victims of the NHS infected blood scandal. (AFP/Getty)

The former Prime Minister feared the wrath of homeowners who would be forced to pay an average of £240 more per month.

In many of the so-called “blue wall” – the Conservative constituencies in the south of England that Mr Sunak was keen to save – households would have to pay even more.

But the early poll could not prevent disaster: the Tories suffered the worst defeat in their history in the general election.

The election date came as a surprise after the then Prime Minister had said for months that the elections would take place in the second half of the year.

He even used an appearance on ITV’s Loose Women to tell people that their summer holidays would not be affected.

But he surprised Westminster by using the last possible day to announce early elections in the summer.

The decision sparked anger among many of his own MPs, who warned that they had not been given enough time to fill local war chests and develop winning campaigns.