Boring was good but it's not enough for jittery Tory MPs

Five weeks after becoming prime minister, Rishi Sunak has discovered how hard it is to govern the country when you have an ungovernable party.

- ANDREW GRICE

The prime minister is battling backbench rebellions over housebuilding, onshore wind, tax rises, his China policy and the Brexit trade deal. His faction-ridden MPs have ignored his initial "unite or die" message, making his working majority of 69 an illusion.

The constant noise oft undermines Sunak's unique selling point competence. With the cost of living crisis prompting a wave of strikes, he does not look in control of events; mostly likely because he is not.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, dropped from the cabinet by Sunak, has warned that the backbench revolts are "ill-advised", adding that MPs must support their leader if they want to win the next election. But Rees-Mogg also said in public what many Tory MPs say in private: Sunak does not have a mandate because he was not elected by voters. "The mandate is important, and the mandate was Boris"," he said.

Nor was Sunak elected by the Tory grassroots. Indeed, he has quickly tumbled down the popularity league table of Tory members in today's ConservativeHome poll - from fifth place with a net positive 50 per cent satisfaction rating, to sixth from bottom on 9 per cent. Like Tory backbenchers, members are disgruntled and impatient about the small boats crisis.

Many Tories demand "grip" but their rebellions make the task of displaying it harder. Allies of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss are happy to join in; they have convinced themselves (wrongly) that Sunak plotted against them.