Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch has called for an end to speculation about “existential issues” in the Tory Party and called on MPs to back Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Asked why Tory MPs were stabbing each other in the back, she told GB News: “Well, I think that that is completely untrue. There are 350 Tory MPs, or thereabouts, and one or two people will say something and that suddenly dominates the narrative…the Conservative Party is very united.
“One of the things that I think is really important is that we don't let disagreements, which happen across politics all the time, it’s what we do, we have disagreements…we should not let disagreements turn into speculation about existential issues of the party.
“I think that it's really important that people like me continue to tell the public about the jobs that we are doing and how we are making their lives better.”
In a discussion during Breakfast with Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster, she continued: “We need to focus on what the large proportion of the party are doing. We're not losing votes, we are voting, we’re voting together.
“We're getting our legislation through, where we have different views on legislation, we have those discussions in Parliament and we are working for the people of the UK, but we know that things have been challenging.”
She denied that the Prime Minister is indifferent to the concerns of ordinary people: “No, he is very, very concerned about what is happening…all of us as cabinet ministers, remember, we are a team. We are a big team. He's not the only person who has to go out and do everything. That's why people like me are out here this morning talking about the work that we're doing.
“It's also really important, when you think about the local elections that are coming up in a few weeks’ time, that all of those councillors out there who've been working hard for their communities don't end up not getting votes…because of what's happening nationally, rather than what's happened locally.”
On poor poll numbers for the Conservatives, she said: “I know that the polls are showing us being quite far behind, but what I would say is that the election that I came in to Parliament on in 2017, the polls were showing the Conservatives 20 points ahead, probably Theresa May was going to win this magnificent landslide election, and it all changed in a few weeks during that election.
“A poll is just a snapshot of what is happening today. It is not what's going to happen on election day. I think it is important that everybody gets behind the Prime Minister just like I am, supporting him and helping to deliver for the country.”
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