It’s too late to get rid of Rishi Sunak, Tories warned – as Kemi Badenoch blasts ‘handful of plotters’

IT is "too late" to get rid of Rishi Sunak, warring Tories have been warned as Cabinet Minister Kemi Badenoch blasted plots to oust him.

Former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said colleagues should "get on with it"; even if they are not happy with the PM as the general election is too close.

Meanwhile, the Business Secretary urged her party to "stop messing around" and get behind the embattled PM.

She also dismissed the plotters to just "one or two people" generating headlines.

The barrage of questions on Tory Party psychodrama comes as the PM is seeking to shift the political debate to the gradually improving economic outlook in an attempt to shore up his leadership.

Launching a fightback, Mr Sunak today vowed 2024 “will be the year Britain bounces back”.

He also told broadcasters all Conservatives are "united in wanting to deliver a brighter future for our country".

The PM added: “I’m not interested in all Westminster politics. It doesn’t matter.

“What matters is the future of our country. And that’s what I am squarely focused on."

He is in for another tough week with his Rwanda Bill returning to the Commons and an appearance before the backbench 1922 committee.

A Tory veteran yesterday told The Sun the "backbench heard is now moving" against Mr Sunak, with "several leadership camps" mobilising rapidly to find a viable new PM.

Asked about speculation some of her colleagues want to see the PM replaced with Penny Mordaunt, Ms Badenoch told LBC: "I think she (Penny Mordaunt) has distanced herself...

"I think it is actually very easy for one or two people out of 350 to talk to the papers and generate news headlines.

"There is so much reporting that I read... even about myself, which I know is not true.

"The facts are that the party works very well together.

"Yes, of course, there will be some people who are unhappy I'm not going to... I'm not going to deny that.

"But we need to move away from the scenario where one or two people can create all the news and 300 others can't get a word in."

She added: "I've said many times that people need to stop messing around and get behind the Prime Minister."

Referring to the joint visit with the PM at a small business conference in the West Midlands this morning, Ms Badenoch also told the BBC: “I am very happy to be with him this morning, we work well together, I will be supporting him today.

"I don’t think that there is very much to these rumours. It is almost the same thing we have been reading week after week for the last two years.

“And we need to make sure that one or two MPs cannot dominate the news narrative when 350-plus MPs have different views.”

Meanwhile, Mr Wallace told Time 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.

"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."