Rishi Sunak set to resign as Conservative Party leader on Friday morning - reports

Rishi Sunak is set to resign as Conservative Party leader in the morning. Tim Shipman, the Sunday Times’ chief political commentator, has told Times Radio he thinks Sunak will resign on Friday, a day after the election, which is set to be a Labour landslide.

Times Radio's Calum Macdonald said on Twitter, now X: "@ShippersUnbound tells @TimesRadio‘s Election night that his understanding is that Rishi Sunak will announce his resignation as Conservative leader on Friday morning."

It comes after Sunak hinted that he might not quit as Tory leader immediately if he loses the election on Thursday. In an interview with the BBC’s Chris Mason, he did not give a direct answer when asked if he would stay on if he lost.

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Asked if he would remain an MP for the whole of the next parliament, regardless of the election result, Sunak replied: "Yes. I love my constituents, I love serving them. You know that was my day job and … you know how passionate I am about our life and my home in north Yorkshire."

But when Mason asked if he would consider staying on for a few months as leader if he lost the election, Sunak replied: "Look my priority is focused on this election. I love this party dearly, and of course I’ll always put myself at the service of it, and the service of my country."

“There was a really big push on the idea of going long, which meant December,” a source said. “The people arguing for it said it would give people time to get settled in after the election, but it quickly became obvious that ‘people’ meant Kemi.”

“Allowing a longer process would allow time for Kemi’s people to be put in place in Conservative head office, and for her to be given a prominent shadow Cabinet role and build up her public profile,” the source added.