RISHI Sunak is plotting a policy blitz comeback to revitalise his fortunes — as he faces the headache of the Tories having to fight four by-elections.
The PM has been drawing up plans to woo voters ahead of the next general election by dangling the prospect of tax cuts in his King’s Speech this September.
Rishi Sunak needs the four upcoming by-elections ‘like a hole in the head’, says a source
Tories fear losing seats in three of the four upcoming by-elections
But attention turned to more immediate problems yesterday when he suffered a fresh blow as Nigel Adams became the third Tory to quit within 24 hours — after Boris Johnson and Nadine Dorries.
Mr Adams followed his old boss and close friend Bojo out the door — declaring it had been an “honour and a privilege” to serve in his seat of Selby, North Yorks.
But No10 were stunned at the news after Mr Adams spent the past few days furiously denying he was on the brink of quitting.
It means Mr Sunak now has to fight three nightmare by-elections in England when his party are 12 points behind in the polls.
A fourth by-election in Scotland is looming as SNP MP Margaret Ferrier is set to be booted out of her seat of Rutherglen and Hamilton West for breaking Covid rules.
And there are fears that Tory MP Alok Sharma could quit after his name was dropped from the honours list after being initially listed for the House of Lords.
A source inside the Sunak team said: “We need these by-elections like a hole in the head.”
Cabinet ministers said they feared Labour would romp to victory in Scotland and take Mr Johnson’s vacated seat of Uxbridge.
One minister warned: “It could give Labour momentum.”
The Lib Dems are optimistic they can snatch the once rock solid Tory seat of Mid-Beds where Ms Dorries was.
The Tories are expected to hang on in Selby.
Tory chiefs are set to start the firing gun on their three by-elections later this week as they want them done and dusted before Parliament’s summer holidays.
Sir Keir Starmer has made it a priority to seize the Uxbridge seat after Boris Johnson quit
But eager to twist the knife in, Sir Keir Starmer is already flooding Mr Johnson’s old seat with activists in a bid to win it.
Hundreds of Labour members, including shadow cabinet minister Jonathan Ashworth, dashed over to Uxbridge in West London yesterday to go campaigning.
One Labour source on the frontline said it is “ripe for the taking”.
They added: “Carnival atmosphere in Uxbridge today – like a general election – really positive vibes and a strong response on the doors.
“People realise this is a tough fight but everyone’s so up for it.
“Everyone wants to see the back of Boris.”
Privately, No10 have kissed goodbye to hopes of retaining Uxbridge.
One senior party figure said: “Uxbridge is dead. We will try to scrap it out in Mid-Beds.”
Another ally of Mr Sunak said the party should “throw the kitchen sink” trying to keep hold of Mid-Beds.
The top Tory MP said: “We need to show we are still up for the fight and have ideas and can win.”
Usually considered rock solid, it had a Tory majority of 24,664 in 2019.
But the Lib Dems sniff blood and leader Sir Ed Davey will visit there today.
A party source said: “Rishi is on the rack and we fancy our chances in Mid-Beds.
“All the ingredients are there for us to pull off another shock win. We are going to tear down the Tory blue wall one brick at a time.”
No10 is on high alert in case any more Tories quit in the wake of Mr Johnson’s sensational exit after a privileges committee investigation into whether he lied to the Commons over Partygate.
But most Tory MPs warned it would be electoral suicide is the Tories tore chunks out of each other and tried to topple another leader.
One MP and ally of Bojo said: “Rishi Sunak’s priorities are right – we need to get inflation down and stop the boats. We must unite behind Rishi.”
The crisis has taken away from the PM’s plans to introduce a policy shake-up — ahead of the King’s Speech.
But even Tory MPs fiercely loyal to the PM are now privately calling for him to do more and show he is more than just a very hard worker – but a leader too.
Sunak has been urged to unite the party after Boris stepped down or face losing at the polls
One Tory said: “It is up to the Conservative Party now, either we pull ourselves together, unite and show we can govern or we will lose. But we need more proper Tory policies like tax cuts.”
A former Cabinet minister, however, fears an election hammering.
He said: “Nobody thinks we can win the next election. Nobody. These by-elections will be hard – they always are.
“But more broadly we have got a death rattle. Good Tory MPs are standing down at the next election. People are starting to drift away.”
The PM will try to get on the front foot with an appearance at tech week in London tomorrow where he will say unleashing innovation will help boost growth.
He will try to woo jittery Tories on Thursday by holding drinks for cabinet members at No10.
Then on Friday he is holding a Summer Reception for Conservative politicians from Scotland and directly elected mayors.
