Hard to say Tories deserve to win snap general election now, says Conservative MP

30 June 2022, 18:54 | Updated: 30 June 2022, 18:58

Steve Baker would 'find it hard' to say Tories deserve to win

A Conservative MP has told LBC's Tonight with Andrew Marr it is "hard" for him to say the Tories "deserve to win" a general election at present.

Steve Baker, a critic of Boris Johnson, said he wanted "a politically stable country" and he wanted to feel the party had earned a win in a future general election.

"I want a politically stable country," he said.

Watch Tonight with Andrew Marr exclusively on Global Player every Monday to Thursday from 6pm to 7pm

"We've got a big working majority, other countries are going through awful turmoil, we've got the opportunity to govern and govern well and we should be going into a general election where we deserve to win it."

When Andrew asked if he felt the Conservatives deserved to win right now, he said it was "tricky" for him to say because he did not want to "write my opponent's literatures", but went on: "I want to be able to stand up and say 'we should win this general election because we deserve to win it', and at the moment I would certainly find that hard to say."

There are rumours Mr Johnson could call an early general election.

At first glance such a move seems counterproductive with the Tories lagging behind Labour in the polls, sparking questions over whether Mr Johnson is trying to evade the Commons' incoming Partygate investigation.

It seems most unlikely PM will lead Tories into next election: Baker

You can also listen to the podcast Tonight with Andrew Marr only on Global Player.

He also said it was "unlikely" that Boris Johnson would lead the Conservative party into the next general election.

"I'm afraid it seems most unlikely," he said when Andrew asked,

When asked about the possibility of a snap general election, Mr Baker joked: "I don't think [Boris Johnson] would be winning any Conservative seats, so you do wonder which MPs does he want to get rid of."

Read more: Boris refuses to rule out calling an early general election three times

Read more: Andrew Marr: The PM is using a snap election as a weapon to persuade MPs to stick with him

He then hit out at the Prime Minister for being poised to 'take advantage' of a Labour leadership contest, which is a possibility if Sir Keir Starmer is fined by Durham Police and resigns as promised.

"That wouldn't be in the national interest," he said.

"As politicians, we all have to say that we will seize opportunities where we find them.

"We've got a campaign and we're tying to serve the public in the way we think best... but there's some opportunities some ought not to take in our uncodified system, and one of those is calling a general election when the opposition party is leaderless.

"I'm afraid I think that's not cricket."