Rishi Sunak called the election because he wants to ‘get out of government’, Rory Stewart suggests

27 June 2024, 22:36

By Kieran Kelly

@kellyjourno

Rishi Sunak may have called the election early because on some level he wants to "get out of government", former Tory minister Rory Stewart has suggested on LBC.

Speaking exclusively to LBC's Iain Dale, Mr Stewart described the Prime Minister's decision to call the election in July as "literally mad".

Asked why by Iain, Stewart said: “I think that maybe subconsciously, psychologically [the Conservatives] may want to lose.

“I think Rishi Sunak called the selection because at some level he wants to get out. [It] didn't make any sense at all, this date. I mean [it's] literally mad.”

“I think with that...Humza Yousaf has just done the same in Scotland, bit worried Emmanuel Macron has done the same in France...that as they begin to run out of ideas and energy, they begin to loathe themselves.

“They become their own undoing.”

Rory Stewart reflects on Rishi Sunak’s time as PM

Mr Sunak called the election five weeks ago, announcing it in the pouring rain outside 10 Downing Street.

Read More: Nigel Farage ‘dismayed’ after Reform UK canvasser ‘filmed calling Rishi Sunak f*****g p**i’

Read More: Keir Starmer accuses Rishi Sunak of being ‘bullied into action’ over election betting scandal

His campaign has been plagued by a series of gaffes, culminating mid-way through after he decided to leave D-Day commemorations early.

In the last week, it has emerged that at least five - and possibly as many as 15 - Conservative candidates are being investigated by the Gambling Commission over alleged bets made in relation to the date of the election.

Rory Stewart on the 'rotten state' of UK politics

Giving his own opinion on Mr Sunak having worked with him, Mr Stewart told LBC: “I thought that he was somebody who was very, very confident in argument.

“So you could see that in the debate last night. He's very good at arguing. And I as a minister when I was trying to convince him of something, we'd often get in these very long arguments and he's very good at that kind of debating.

“But I never felt that he had the kind of big sense of who he was and where he stood on the really big issues .I wasn't completely convinced on where he stood on Brexit.

“I couldn't understand why he endorsed Boris Johnson so quickly, except because he wanted to get a fast track into the cabinet.

“It's very understandable...many other people I joined Parliament with were like that Matt Hancock and Priti Patel had a bit of that going on as well.

“I think in a way to survive as Prime Minister, he needed to have a sense of who he was and who his values were.

“His biggest chance. I still think as if he'd come in and said, ‘I'm distancing myself from Liz Truss, Boris Johnson. I'm going to vote on this privileges committee report. This is a disgrace. This is a new direction. I'm changing things’.

“He might have had hope in this election.”