A former Tory chairman has warned Rishi Sunak that he has got just six months to turn around the party’s fortunes or face defeat at the next election.
Jake Berry said there was “quite a narrow window” for the government to prove to the British public that they were “competent”.
His intervention came as the prime minister faces a range of challenges, from growing backbench rebellions to an exodus of Tory MPs from parliament.
Appearing on the BBC’s ‘Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg’ programme, Berry - who was sacked by Sunak when he became PM - said: “I do think the government’s got quite a narrow window to grip some of these issues and prove that we are competent to the British public, and if we do that I can absolutely see a path to victory, including regaining many of those red wall constituencies again.”
He added: “There’s only really 18 months until the next general election and in the last 12 months no one’s really listening, it’s all about the election campaign.
“So we’ve got about six months to get this right.”
In a further challenge to Sunak, Berry also revealed that he is backing calls for the government to dump the ban on new onshore wind farm developments.
Former cabinet minister Simon Clarke has tabled an amendment to the levelling up and regeneration bill demanding the current moratorium on new onshore wind farm developments be lifted.
He has already secured the backing of former prime ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, as well as Cop 26 president Alok Sharma.
Meanwhile, the Sunday Telegraph has reported that Michael Gove also believes that the current ban should be lifted.
Berry said: “Boris Johnson famously used to call wind turbines the white satanic mills of the north of England when they were building them all over my constituency.
“He’s changed his mind on them, I to a large extent have changed my mind and I’m going to be supporting Simon Clarke and his amendment because I think if you want to know why we should have more renewables, just look at your gas or electricity bill.”