A Tory mayor praised by Rishi Sunak following his re-election last week has said the prime minister is ultimately to blame for the “chaos” in the party.
Ben Houchen said the Conservatives were “fighting like rats in a sack” and needed to urgently unite ahead of the general election.
Houchen was the only Tory mayor to be re-elected in last week’s local elections.
Appearing alongside Houchen in Darlington last Friday, Sunak said: “Ben has delivered more for this region in seven years than the Labour Party managed in 30 years.”
But in an interview with BBC Radio Tees today, the mayor hit out at the in-fighting tearing the Tories apart.
Asked if the prime minister was to blame, he said: “Ultimately it always rests on the shoulders of the leader, all responsibility goes back to the top, it’s the same in my job as well.
“Ultimately, you’re the one responsible for it. But there are lots of people who are involved in the problems with the Conservative Party. It’s a bit of chaos at the minute, right, isn’t it?
“There’s lots of people fighting with each other in the Conservative Party, there are defections going on, and ultimately the public do not vote for parties who are not united and are not presenting a united front and also aren’t talking to the public.
“If they’re fighting with each other like rats in a sack instead of saying to the public ‘this is what we’re going to do for you’, that doesn’t win elections.
“Obviously, it ultimately lies with Rishi but there are lots of people that need to get their act together, stop messing about and start talking to the public about what they can offer them, rather than just fighting with each other.”