No confidence letters sent in against Rishi Sunak before election announcement

LETTERS of no confidence were reportedly being sent in against the Prime Minister before he announced a summer General Election.

Newsnight’s Nicholas Watt reported that a Tory rebel source said: “Letters are going in calling for a no confidence vote in Rishi Sunak after reports of an imminent general election announcement.”

There have been previous reports the Prime Minister has been the subject of no confidence letters during his tenure but they have never reached the level sufficient to trigger a vote.

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They are sent to Graham Brady, chair of the 1922 Committee comprised of Tory MPs. Past a certain quota of letters Brady is able to call a confidence vote in the party leader.

Against the backdrop of falling inflation and economic growth, Sunak on Wednesday announced the country would go to the polls on July 4.

He may also have cause for optimism given progress on the controversial Rwanda scheme, with deportation flights set to start this summer.

Speaking in Downing Street, the PM slammed Labour, saying: "I don’t know what they offer and, in truth, I don’t think you know either.

“And that’s because they have no plan, there is no bold action, and as a result the future can only be uncertain with them.”

But the Conservatives are still widely expected to lose the next election, with all polls giving Labour a major lead on their rivals.