Tory MPs urge Rishi Sunak to fill chairman role and get ‘battle ready’ as local elections loom 

Tory MPs urge Rishi Sunak to fill the party chairman position and get ‘battle ready’ as local elections loom

  • Elections are expected to be ‘the most difficult in a generation for the Tory Party’
  • Labour is 20 points ahead in opinion polls, bruising expected results in May

Conservative MPs have urged Rishi Sunak to fill the role of party chairman and get ‘battle ready’ as local elections loom.

The post has been vacant since Nadhim Zahawi was sacked by the Prime Minister for breaking the ministerial code following a tax dispute.

Several names have been mentioned in connection with the job, including former Levelling Up Secretary Simon Clarke and Environment Minister Mark Spencer.

There has been speculation that the role will be difficult to fill with Labour 20 points ahead in the opinion polls and bruising local election results expected in May.

But Tory MPs emphasised how important it was to fill the position to get ‘battle-ready’.

Conservative MPs have urged Rishi Sunak to fill the role of party chairman and get ‘battle ready’ as local elections loom (file image)

One said: ‘The extraordinary delay begs a lot of questions.

‘The party chair role can’t be left unfilled with under 100 days left to go until the local elections. And there’s a General Election looming after that.’

Another said: ‘This election will be the most difficult in a generation for the Tory Party. We need to be battle-ready. I do think there is a real question here as to what the plan is.’

Some MPs say there is a debate as to whether to appoint a loyalist such as Mark Spencer, or an ally of Liz Truss such as Simon Clarke. Mr Clarke said he had not been approached.

It came as reports suggest the Conservative Party is facing a £25 million shortfall ahead of the General Election.

There has been speculation that the role will be difficult to fill with Labour 20 points ahead in the opinion polls and bruising local election results expected in May

There has been speculation that the role will be difficult to fill with Labour 20 points ahead in the opinion polls and bruising local election results expected in May

Bloomberg reported that the party’s operating budget was around £5 million in the red. At one point, the party’s bank account went into its overdraft to pay its staff wage bill, it added. But sources at Conservative Campaign Headquarters said they had received some big donations in recent weeks that had not yet shown up in the accounts.

The party chairman is responsible for election fund-raising and campaigning. But it will be an uphill task with big donors staying away.

Donations dropped by 45 per cent in the third quarter of 2022, according to the latest data from the Electoral Commission.

A source said they would not provide a timetable and they would not comment on whether or not a candidate for chairman had been approached.