Tory MPs would be “mad” to think ousting Rishi Sunak as prime minister before the election was a good idea, a senior Conservative has said.
Damian Green, who served as Theresa May’s de facto deputy prime minister, hit out at any colleagues agitating to get rid of Sunak.
“Anyone who thinks that what the Conservative Party or the country needs is a change of prime minister is either mad or malicious or both,” he told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme.
It comes as Sunak is facing the prospect of a humiliating defeat on Tuesday when MPs vote on his new plan to send people seeking asylum in the UK to Rwanda.
Some on the right of the Conservative Party believe the proposed law is too weak and will not work.
It would take only 29 Tory MPs to vote against the legislation for the prime minister to be defeated.
One Tory MP told HuffPost UK it would be “committing suicide” for Sunak to lose the vote.
According to the Daily Mirror, one Conservative believes 18 MPs have already submitted letters of no confidence in Sunak.
Bloomberg News reported that allies of ex-PM Liz Truss have met to discuss coordinating moves to change the party leader.
And the Daily Mail suggested some were even discussing a “dream team” of Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage take over the party - despite neither being MPs.
It would take 53 Tory MPs to submit letters of no confidence for a leadership contest to be triggered.
If Sunak was replaced it would leave the country with its third PM since October 2022 who had not actually won a general election themselves.
Earlier on Sunday, Michael Gove said Sunak was “not contemplating” holding an early election should he lose the Rwanda vote.