The party’s annual gathering usually has those at the top leading the whole event, but the former PM – who is still leader until November – has taken the almost unprecedented step of not speaking from the main stage at all this year.
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Allowing the spotlight to fall on the four remaining contenders vying to replace him, Sunak just made a 15-minute “thank you” speech to party members away from the main hall.
Speaking to a room – which was not exactly packed to the brim – Sunak was quick to apologise for leading the party into its worst set of election results ever.
He said: “I am only sorry that your efforts could not deliver the results you deserved.”
But one person in the crowd heckled him, saying: “It wasn’t you!”
He received further support when he confirmed that this would be his last speech to conference as the Tory Party leader, as another mysterious attendee shouted, “We love you, Rishi!”
He did not respond.
The former PM also wasted no time in criticising Labour, whom he claimed were trying to “rewrite history”.
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New PM Keir Starmer has blamed his more unpopular decisions – like restricting the winter fuel payments to those on pension credit – on the £22bn black hole Labour claim the Tories left behind in the government finances.
Sunak said conference this year was clearly such a “hot ticket” that he was surprised the prime minister “hasn’t asked someone to buy it for him”.
He added: “Socialists always run out of other people’s money, something Lord Alli is finding out as we speak.”
Lord Alli is a Labour donor who has been in the spotlight this month over the amount of freebies Starmer has declared since 2019.
Sunak concluded his speech by saying: “I do want to finish with a final ask of all of you.
“Whoever wins this contest, give them your backing.”
He continued: “We must end the division, the backbiting, the squabbling. We must not nurse old grudges but build new friendships.
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“We must always remember what unites us rather than obsess over where we might differ, because when we turn in on ourselves we lose and the country ends up with a Labour government.”
Maybe the Conservatives don’t really need a new leader, after all.
Remarkably, the party has actually gained seven local council seats in the past five weeks after suffering a landslide general election defeat less than three months ago.
That is despite the fact that, for all intents and purposes, the Tories are effectively leaderless at the moment.
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Rishi Sunak is still nominally in charge. But even those close to him concede that he mentally checked out of the job on the morning of July 5.
Indeed, the former PM will hardly be seen at the Conservatives’ annual conference in Birmingham, which kicks off on Sunday. He will address a members-only reception that evening, and is expected to play no further part in the proceedings.
The Conservatives’ poll ratings have recently ticked up slightly, although this has more to do with the Labour government’s ongoing woes than a sudden wave of affection for the Tories.
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Polling by Savanta, seen by HuffPost UK, confirms that the general public have stopped paying attention to the party.
Given a choice of who would make the best opposition leader, Sunak, Nigel Farage or Ed Davey, the most popular answer was “don’t know”.
Emma Levin, associate director at Savanta, said: “There is clearly a big gap in British politics for an opposition politician to properly take Keir Starmer to task. But that hasn’t happened yet.”
One former Tory cabinet member, who is yet to decide who to back in the leadership race, told HuffPost UK that the conference is an opportunity to show the public that the party still exists.
“Labour being so shit has just overwhelmed everything,” he said. “I’m genuinely surprised that they’re making a lot of very basic mistakes.
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“People have forgotten all about Rishi Sunak. It has all been about Labour and how bad they’ve been.”
The MP said he hoped that one of the four remaining candidates may emulate David Cameron, who used the party conference in 2005 to destroy his more-favoured rival, David Davis.
“This year’s conference is about bringing the leadership contest back to centre stage, and highlighting what the differences are between the contenders.
“We’ll be looking to see how they perform, whether they commit any gaffes and whether any of them can do a Cameron-esque performance that blows everyone else away.”
Under the rules of the contest, the remaining four will be whittled down to three and then two by a couple of ballots of Tory MPs when Westminster returns the week after next. It will then be up to the party’s members to decide the winner, who will be announced on November 2.
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The contenders: clockwise from top left, Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Tom Tugendhat and James Cleverly
Former immigration minister Jenrick is now the bookies’ favourite, overtaking the previous frontrunner Badenoch.
One of his supporters said: “There is a lot of momentum behind Robert’s campaign, but he’s not taking anything for granted, he’s going to keep working hard to persuade MPs to support his positive case for change.
“He’s the only candidate who can win back voters on the left and right with his focus on the big issues and his serious, credible answers on the key challenges of the day, such as immigration, NHS reform and growing our economy.”
But a Badenoch campaign source insisted she was very much still in the race.
He said: “Kemi has been touring the country solidly for the past few months, going from Conservative association to Conservative association and getting an amazing reception from the members.
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“All the independent polling puts her way out ahead with our membership. This conference is a chance to show MPs she is the members’ choice – the one with the star quality to cut through as a leader of the opposition and take the fight to Labour.”
Cleverly, a former party chairman, foreign secretary and home secretary, is seen by many as the dark horse of the contest, with even a senior figure in a rival campaign admitting he is “under-priced” by the bookies.
A source on his campaign described the conference as “a home fixture”, given his popularity with the party’s rank-and-file.
“He is a party man who loves campaigning and engaging with the activists and members – and he gets a consistently good reception from them wherever he goes, mainly because he knows half of them,” the source said.
“His approach is to engage as much as possible with the members, to set out his pitch as the unity candidate and the most experienced candidate who is ready to hit the ground running from day one as leader.”
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It is barely 12 weeks since the Tories were reduced to just 121 MPs in the House of Commons, a statistical irrelevance when compared to Labour’s 411 and fewer than 50 seats ahead of the Lib Dems.
Whoever wins the leadership race faces a monumental task in trying to return the party to power at the next election.
Nevertheless, there remains a flicker of optimism among the party that the new Labour government’s struggles are not just a blip, but a sign that their seemingly-impregnable Commons majority could be wiped out at the first attempt.
They believe there is some light at the end of a very long tunnel. Whether it turns out to be an oncoming train remains to be seen.
A cabinet minister has been condemned after he said people need to “move on” from a race row engulfing the Tory Party’s biggest donor.
Frank Hester, who gave the Conservatives £10 million last year, reportedly saidDiane Abbott made him “want to hate all black women” and that she “should be shot”.
But work and pensions secretary Mel Stride said that while the remarks were “inappropriate”, it was not “a gender-based or a race-based comment”.wes
He added: “He has apologised and I think we need to move on from that.”
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said Stride’s response showed the Tory Party was “rotten to its core and unfit for office”.
Former Tory adviser Sam Freedman said: “This line is so appalling that it can only be in use because Hester is demanding that they stick to his line.
“Mel Stride is not a stupid person. There is no way he thinks this is a good or reasonable line.”
Asked if the Tories should hand back the money Hester gave them, he said: “We can’t cancel anybody from participation in public life, or indeed donating to parties because they said something intemperate and wrong in their past.
“It’s not my decision, but I do welcome those who support the Conservative Party to ensure that we have Rishi Sunak – our first Hindu prime minister.”
Boris Johnson said he was “giving up the best job in the world” as he announced he was resigning as prime minister.
The outgoing premier also spoke of the “pain” he felt at having been forced out by his MPs.
He said it was “clearly the will of the parliamentary Conservative Party that there should be a new leader of that party and therefore a new prime minister” and that the leadership contest to choose his successor had now begun.
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Speaking directly to the British public on the steps of 10 Downing Street, he said: “I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world, but them’s the breaks.”
Johnson was applauded by around 30 supportive MPs, as well as his wife Carrie and Downing Street aides as he made his way from the front door of No. 10 to the lectern in the street outside.
In an at-times graceless speech, Johnson made clear his anger at being dumped by his own party less than three years after winning an 80-seat majority.
He said: “In the last few days, I tried to persuade my colleagues that it would be eccentric to change governments when we’re delivering so much and when we have such a vast mandate and when we’re actually only a handful of points behind in the polls, even in mid-term after quite a few months of pretty relentless sledging and when the economic scene is so difficult domestically and internationally.
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“I regret not to have been successful in those arguments and of course it’s painful not to be able to see through so many ideas and projects myself.
“But as we’ve seen, at Westminster the herd instinct is powerful, when the herd moves, it moves.
“And my friends in politics, no one is remotely indispensable and our brilliant and Darwinian system will produce another leader, equally committed to taking this country forward through tough times.”
He added: “I want to say to the millions of people who voted for us in 2019, many of them voting Conservative for the first time, thank you for that incredible mandate, the biggest Conservative majority since 1987, the biggest share of the vote since 1979.
“And the reason I have fought so hard in the last few days to continue to deliver that mandate in person was not just because I wanted to do so, but because I felt it was my job, my duty, my obligation to you to continue to do what we promised in 2019.
“And of course, I’m immensely proud of the achievements of this government.”
The PM went on: “I know that even if things can seem dark now, our future together is golden.”
The prime minister also confirmed he plans to stay in office until a new leader is elected, which may not be until the autumn.
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Despite Johnson’s insistence that he will stay on until a new leader is in place, angry Tory MPs have demanded he go straight away, a move which would likely see deputy PM Dominic Raab take the reins until a new leader is in place.
North West Leicestershire MP Andrew Bridgen told HuffPost UK: “He’s lost the confidence of the party and he’s lost legitimacy to stay in office – leave means leave.
“If he stays we will be mired in further scandal and sleaze allegations throughout the summer, which will distract from government and the leadership election.
“It’s all about Boris Johnson – it’s not about the the party or the country. He’s not fit to remain in office a moment longer.”
The election watchdog must carry out its investigation into who funded Boris Johnson’s Downing Street flat refurbishment quickly or risk the perception that it is “playing politics”, a senior Tory has said.
Tom Tugendhat told HuffPost UK’s Commons People podcast that the Electoral Commission must prove to be “regulators who are not only independent but are seen to be independent”.
The watchdog has said it is satisfied that “there are reasonable grounds to suspect that an offence or offences may have occurred” relating to the funding of the refurbishment of the No.11 flat.
No.10 has refused to say whether Johnson sought an initial loan or donation to cover a reported £58,000-worth of renovations to his residence in No. 11, which he shares with partner Carrie Symonds and their baby son Wilfred.
Political donations have to be declared to ensure there are no questions or concerns over politicians or parties being unduly influenced by those giving them money.
Tugendhat urged the commission to bring forward any evidence it has of wrongdoing quickly, or to drop the probe.
It comes after the watchdog took more than a year between launching an investigation into Tory spending in the 2015 general election and publishing its findings, although that appeared to be a much wider case.
Tugendhat told Commons People the commission was an organisation that has “really not always covered itself in glory”.
Niall Carson – PA Images via Getty ImagesTory MP and Commons foreign affairs committee chair Tom Tugendhat
Addressing the watchdog’s assessment that an offence may have been committed, he went on: “It is a certain challenge but I hope very much that if they are making statements like that then they will stand them up quickly.”
Tugendhat added: “I’m not in charge of this and the Electoral Commission is an independent organisation and they will have to do what they have to do.
“But if they are going to drag it out then it will begin to look like they are playing politics with it and that would be a great shame.
“Because what we need to have is independent regulators who are not only independent but are seen to be independent.
“So if they’ve got evidence, fine, bring it forward, publish, and if you don’t, drop it.”
The Commons foreign affairs committee chair was also asked whether he believes Johnson’s denial that he said in autumn that he would rather see “bodies piled high” than order another lockdown, and also the PM’s statements about the flat.
Tugendhat replied: “I think we’ve got to take the prime minister at his word.
“We all know what he’s like, he hasn’t changed in 25-30 years.
“None of this is a surprise.”
Asked how Johnson has been in those 25-30 years, the MP replied: “He’s been somebody who expresses himself with bonomie and with a certain lightness and that’s what we’re seeing.”
Tugendhat also said Tory candidates gearing up for next week’s local elections would rather be speaking about policy issues than the various allegations against Johnson.
“I’ve been speaking to a lot of candidates who would wish that the focus was on what they were trying to achieve for their communities, of course they do,” he said.
“And I sympathise with them, because there’s a lot of people who have worked extremely hard for four years who are trying to explain to their friends and neighbours exactly what they are going to do over the next four and that’s what really matters.”
Earlier, Johnson said he would “comply” with the Electoral Commission inquiry.
“I don’t think there is anything to see here, or worry about,” he told reporters.
David Cameron’s lobbying of senior ministers and officials, who he knew as prime minister, on behalf of Greensill Capital was “acceptable”, a cabinet minister has claimed.
Environment secretary George Eustice, Cameron’s former press secretary, said the ex-PM cannot be “begrudged” for taking on a role lobbying for the now-collapsed finance firm Greensill after leaving office.
Eustice also claimed the current system for regulating how ministers declare private sector interests was “actually a pretty good one”.
Labour said the minister’s comments showed “the government’s latest approach appears to be to shrug their shoulders and say ‘scandal? What scandal?’”
The Tory minister’s defence of Cameron and the rules came after Tory MP Sir Bernard Jenkin, who chairs the Commons liaison committee which questions the prime minister, has also warned that a failure to be “more transparent” than previous governments could see the so-called “red wall” seats turn away from the Tories.
A series of probes have been commissioned, including by Downing Street, as Westminster looks to understand the role Cameron played in securing Whitehall access for Greensill.
The firm was selected as an intermediary lender for some government Covid-19 support loans at the start of the pandemic.
The controversy follows disclosures that Cameron personally lobbied chancellor Rishi Sunak on Greensill’s behalf via text messages and was able to arrange for its founder and his former Downing Street adviser, Lex Greensill, to have a “private drink” with health secretary Matt Hancock.
The saga deepened last week after it emerged the former head of government procurement, Bill Crothers, took a part-time position with the failed firm while still in his Whitehall post.
The Sunday Times has now reported that Cameron contacted a former Cabinet Office contact who has since moved onto a senior NHS position to help secure a lucrative health deal, allowing Greensill to roll out its advance payment app, Earnd, to doctors and nurses.
Greensill’s collapse now risks thousands of jobs, particularly in the steel sector.
Shadow communities secretary Steve Reed said the revelations surrounding Greensill were “shocking” and evidence that the “era of Tory sleaze is well and truly back”.
The Labour frontbencher told Ridge on Sunday on Sky News: “You’ve got a former prime minister (David Cameron) employed by a wealthy organisation who is then using his personal relationships with existing ministers, including the chancellor of the exchequer, persuading them to do favours, favours that would not have been open to other businesses or organisations.”
But Cameron was defended by his former aide Eustice, who suggested that the former PM should have written more formal letters to the likes of Sunak rather than informal messaging.
The environment secretary told Ridge: “I think the real point is. ‘has he done anything wrong?’ Well, on the face of it, no. There’s a review that is going on, we mustn’t prejudge that.”
He then told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: “I think the key thing is that he has not broken any of the rules.
“It is acceptable, because it was within the rules.
“The point I would make is that ministers, when they leave office, including prime ministers, aren’t allowed to take any such paid roles for two years – these are rules that David Cameron himself brought in.
“He left office some five years ago and you can’t begrudge people moving on to another career.”
Eustice conceded “tweaks” to the rules may be needed following No.10’s review, which is being led by City lawyer Nigel Boardman, and various parliamentary probes.
“But fundamentally, I think the systems we have in place with ministers declaring interests with the ministerial code and the focus on that and how ministers conduct themselves in office is actually a pretty good one,” Eustice told Ridge.
Responding to Eustice’s interviews, Labour’s shadow Cabinet Office minister Rachel Reeves said: “Less than a week since the government announced the Boardman review, ministers are openly admitting it has no powers whatsoever.
Having failed to deflect the blame, the Government’s latest approach appears to be to shrug their shoulders and say ‘scandal? What scandal?’.
“The public know that the cosy relationship between the Conservative government, commercial lobbyists and taxpayer money stinks of sleaze. It’s one rule for them, another for everybody else.
“We don’t need the ‘tweaks’ Eustice said they might consider today, we need to tackle Tory sleaze with a full, independent, transparent inquiry – and we need stronger measures to put integrity and honour back into heart of government.”
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey dismissed Eustice’s claims, insisting that relying on the ministerial code leaves the prime minister as “judge and jury” in deciding if a minister has breached ethics standards.
“I’m very worried that the ministerial code isn’t properly enforced,” Davey said.
“We’ve seen (Sir) Alex Allan, the independent adviser for ministerial standards, resign and [a replacement has not been appointed].
“I’d like to see an independent body enforcing the ministerial code, not the prime minister – that’s wrong.
“It’s wrong that a politician should be the judge and jury of who decides who has broken the ministerial code, and what I would like to see is an independent body, just like we have IPSA over MPs pay and expenses, that could say: ‘this minister has broken the code’ and whether they can’t have their ministerial pay.
“That would be the sort of penalty that I think the public would like and would rebuild trust in British politics.”
A Tory former cabinet minister has warned the government against forcing care home staff to have coronavirus vaccinations.
David Davis claimed mandating jabs for healthcare workers would be “illegal” and in breach of international law.
But Downing Street pointed out that some NHS staff are already required to get the hepatitis B vaccine, providing a “clear precedent” for mandatory Covid vaccines.
The clash came as health secretary Matt Hancock confirmed the government was considering legally requiring care home workers in England to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
Hancock insisted “no final decision” had been made amid a review into so-called vaccine passports, but confirmed that ministers were looking at jabs being made compulsory for care workers in England.
The plans have emerged amid concerns of low uptake from staff in care homes looking after those who are among the most vulnerable of death the disease, with around 24% of care workers remaining unvaccinated.
However, Davis’s comments highlighted the potential for the proposals to run into strong opposition from civil liberties Tories, who are already preparing to vote against the extension of Covid restrictions on Thursday.
It came after the Telegraph reported leaked details of a paper submitted to the “Covid O” sub-committee of Cabinet which said that prime minister Boris Johnson and Hancock had agreed to the proposal.
Hancock told LBC: “Because people who are looking after elderly residents in care homes, who we know to be the most vulnerable to Covid, they have a duty of care not to pass on the disease and it is a reasonable question.”
He said “many” care homes had asked for this to happen, adding: “There’s a legal change that’s required and, as you can see, I’m open to that, but no final decision has been taken.”
Davis, who is a staunch civil liberties campaigner, conceded there were “precedents” for mandatory vaccines, including hepatitis B vaccines.
But the former Brexit secretary suggested the comparison with hepatitis B vaccines was unfair, insisting these have been in use since the 1980s and have a long-term safety record.
Davis argued that the best way to protect care home residents was to ensure that they themselves are vaccinated and are therefore at far less risk of death or serious illness.
Barcroft Media via Barcroft Media via Getty ImagesTory former cabinet minister David Davis
He told the Commons public administration committee (PACAC): “It’s illegal to require vaccination at the moment.
“We are bound ourselves by both UN and European international agreements to the use of medical treatment.
“Medical treatment as it stands must only be for the benefit of the person it’s administered to.
“Medical treatment must not be administered for, as it were, communal purposes – otherwise we’ll all be giving mandatory blood transfusions and so on.
“I give blood anyway, but you’d have requirements like that.
“So that’s against both international and national laws.
“The answer… is to solve the problem by the method which is legal and acceptable, which is to vaccinate the people who are at risk.
“Look, if I were running a care home, and I am very pro-vaccines, I would say to all my workers – I would like you to vaccinate in the interests of our clients.
“But I couldn’t force it, and I don’t foresee a way which we can force it.
“And if you tried to say it’s now a requirement of your job, I don’t think the courts would uphold it – apart from anything else because you are costing someone their job for a requirement which can’t be enforced in law.”
Responding, the prime minister’s official spokesperson said: “This is something that happens already, for example doctors are required to have the hepatitis B vaccine.
“So there is a clear precedent for this proposition, elderly people in care homes are the most vulnerable to this disease.
“And this is something that care homes have actually called for.”
It came as the Independent Care Group, which represents providers in York and North Yorkshire, said making the vaccine mandatory for care workers could put people off from joining the sector.
WPA Pool via Getty ImagesA member of staff receives the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the Abercorn House care home in Scotland on December 14
Chair Mike Padgham said it is vital care workers get vaccinated but it should be voluntary, adding: “I think rather than force it through legislation, the government has more work to do in terms of persuading everyone, not just care workers, about how important it is that the whole country has the vaccine so that we are all protected.”
Davis also cautioned the government against introducing so-called vaccine passports to allow immunised people to do certain activities, for example visiting a pub or attending a football match.
He said introducing Covid status certificates, which are currently being reviewed by the government, could be discriminatory against communities reluctant to take up the vaccine.
Davis told MPs: “The impact of this would be discriminatory. Under the law, it would be indirectly discriminatory and that is illegal.
“You may well find, it has been said, that Black and ethnic minority communities are less inclined to get vaccinated, well that would be indirect discrimination.”
Younger people were also less likely to have the jab and “some people have ethical or religious objections”, he said.
“There are a variety of good reasons for people not to take a vaccine. I’ve had a vaccine and I think most of the reasons are not ones I would subscribe to.
“But people have that freedom. What this proposal does is, in effect, coerce those people.”
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