'We need to be as one to win the next election'

Party chief who quit backs Sunak

- Sam Lister

RWANDA Bill rebel Lee Anderson has led calls for Tory MPs to unite around Rishi Sunak following a botched attempt to oust him by a former Cabinet minister.

Sir Simon Clarke claimed the Conservatives will be "massacred" at the General Election unless the Prime Minister is replaced.

But Mr Anderson, who quit as a party deputy chairman last week after refusing to back Mr Sunak's deportation law, told colleagues it was time to stop the infighting.

He said: "We need to be as one to win the next election.

"The Prime Minister has a plan that is in the best interests of the British people. We must get behind this plan or allow Labour to ruin our great country." Mr Anderson said that it is possible to unite after a "little spat" and insisted that the party can win if it gets behind Mr Sunak.

Tory MP Bob Seely said of Sir Simon: "He's a fool for his one-man rebellion. It's actually made us much more united. The more this year goes on, the more united Conservatives will be and the more Labour will be under pressure." Just a week after the PM saw off Commons rebels threatening to vote down his Rwanda Bill, Sir Simon wrote an article claiming "extinction is a very real possibility" for the party if Mr Sunak leads it into the election this year.

The ex-Chief Secretary to the Treasury went on: "The unvarnished truth is that Rishi Sunak is leading the Conservatives into an election where we will be massacred. I know many MPs are afraid another change of leader would look ridiculous.