Right-wing rebels have lost their chance to oust Sunak

We were promised that the knives would be out for the PM if the Tories did badly. But a leadership challenge seems much less probable now than it did last week, writes Andrew Grice

- Andrew Grice

For months, Rishi Sunak's right-wing critics told us that the results of Thursday's local elections would be so bad, they would trigger a coup against him. Although the results were at the upper end of the Conservatives' private predictions, there is no coup yet.

It would take something dramatic to kickstart a serious revolt now - probably the resignation of a cabinet minister - and give the rebels the alternative leader they lack. There's no sign of that. It seems the hardline critics have repeated their Grand Old Duke of York act. They talk a good game, but then the great rebellion never materialises. This time it matters, because it was their last chance of ousting Sunak before the general election.

Sunak allies are scathing about the rebels. "It's just a declining band of Boris Johnson admirers plus a few Liz Truss ideologues," one told me. Some Sunak critics insist they are waiting for the full results before deciding their next move. But Andrea Jenkyns, one of only two Tory MPs to demand a vote of confidence in Sunak as party leader, admitted that the letters requesting such a vote are not going in. She lowered the rebels' sights, calling for the promotion of right-wingers to the cabinet and for Johnson to be allowed to stand as a general election candidate.