Suella Braverman pinned the Tories’ terrible performance at the local elections on PM Rishi Sunak in a furious rant on the BBC – and called for the government to lean further right.
The former home secretary, and well-known figure on the right of the party, said there was “no disguising” the fact the Conservatives had a terrible set of results in the local elections.
She told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: “I love my country, I care about my country, and I want us to win. And I’m urging the prime minister to change course.”
But, Braverman admitted it was not “feasible” to change the leader, saying, “there is no superman or superwoman” who can fix the party’s fortunes right now.
She continued: “What does the prime minister need to do? I think he needs to show people he really cares about the things he has talked about.
“He needs to actually lower taxes in a way people will feel, not tweaking around the edges.”
She also claimed that he needs to take the UK out the European Convention on Human Rights to show he is serious about “stopping the boats”.
Braverman added that the evidence people want the Tories to go further right is in the way people are not voting for her party.
She said: “At this rate, we will be lucky to have any Conservative MPs at the next election.”
Polls have suggested the Tories are in for a thrashing when the public next hit the ballot box.
Braverman said: “We are not delivering for the people, we are not delivering on the policies that people want.
“it is a disgrace that we are trailing behind Labour, led by Keir Starmer who has the charisma of a peanut, who is overseeing a rabble of hard-left maniacs, who would undo Brexit, who would open our border and who would indoctrinate our institutions and our schools with politically-correct madness.”
Kuenssberg asked her: “Do you regret backing Rishi Sunak?”
“Honestly?” She paused. “Yes I do, because I had assurances from Rishi Sunak that he was going to put a cap on illegal migration that he was going to do something about the European Convention on Human Rights, that he was going to do something about the transgender ideology in schools.
“He hasn’t done that.”
Braverman also predicted the Tories would face defeat before the local elections, back in April.