Senior Tory MP Simon Clarke calls on Rishi Sunak to stand down as

Former cabinet minister Sir Simon Clarke has called on Rishi Sunak to resign as prime minister.

The Tory MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, who served as housing secretary under Liz Truss, said in The Telegraph: “Rishi Sunak has sadly gone from asset to anchor.”

Politics latest: Reaction to Clarke’s call for PM to go

He added: “It is time to strip away illusion, and stop tolerating any indulgence of it.

“Our country, with all the challenges we face, is on the brink of being run by Keir Starmer’s Labour for a decade or more.

“If Nigel Farage returns to the fray, as looks increasingly likely, extinction is a very real possibility for our party.

“And it is now beyond doubt that whilst the prime minister is far from solely responsible for our present predicament, his uninspiring leadership is the main obstacle to our recovery.”

Sir Simon, a staunch ally of Mr Sunak‘s short-lived predecessor, was one of 11 Conservative MPs to vote against the prime minister’s Rwanda bill last week after what was mooted to be a sizeable rebellion fizzled out following attempts to toughen up the scheme failed.

His intervention comes amid myriad struggles for the prime minister, including falling approval ratings and unhappiness from across the political divide with the Rwanda deportation plan.

Sky’s political editor heard last week that “several” letters of no confidence in Mr Sunak had been submitted to the backbench 1922 Committee of the Conservative Party. A minimum of 53 would need to be sent in to trigger a leadership contest.

Speaking to the Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge yesterday, Dame Andrea Jenkyns reiterated that she wanted Mr Sunak to stand down.

Sir Simon’s article in The Telegraph added: “I know many MPs are afraid another change of leader would look ridiculous. But what could be more ridiculous than meekly sleepwalking towards an avoidable annihilation because we were not willing to listen to what the public are telling us so clearly?

“A…