'Give him a chance': Former Conservative Party Chairman Lord McLoughlin backs Rishi as PM

25 October 2022, 10:14 | Updated: 25 October 2022, 11:27

Former Conservative party chairman Lord McLoughlin has told the public to “give [Rishi] a chance”, saying Sunak as prime minister is “what the country wants, and I think it’s what the party wants as well”.

Speaking to Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, the Tory peer former Chief Whip – who served under both Margaret Thatcher and John Major – said he tthought “Rishi as Chancellor showed that he was up to those kinds of decisions”.

“The job of Prime Minister is a job that you hit the road at 100 miles an hour, and the car rarely goes below 95 miles an hour,” said McLoughlin.

Adding he was “delighted” by Sunak’s appointment as PM, the current Chairman of Transport for the North said “today will be a momentous day for him and for the country too”.

“A man coming from the background that Rishi comes from, it is fantastic to see him enter Downing Street as prime minister.”

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Asked by Ferrari whether he thought Sunak could face the same fate as former PM Ian Duncan Smith – who once used the very same “unite of die'' ultimatum, McLoughlin said: “No, I don’t think so”.

“He’s going to make some mistakes – but we all make mistakes”, said McLoughlin, who added: “the problem is, when you’re prime minister, they’re on view for everyone to see”.

Speaking of the process which allowed for Sunak's appointment without the public's say, McLoughlin called on 1922 Committee Chair Sir Graham Brady to “revisit those rules”.

Reflecting on the downfall of outgoing PM Liz Truss, the peer said: “One of the problems when Liz got elected, was that she only got the support of just over a third of the parliamentary party”

"I think a PM has to command the confidence of a parliamentary party,” he added.

"Had there been two candidates, there would have been a run-off between those two candidates and the party would have known what their support was in the country".

Also reflecting on former prime minister Boris Johnson's premiership, the peer said: “It came to the stage where he couldn’t command the confidence of his own government”.

“Boris is responsible for Boris; it was his fault that he made some very difficult mistakes”.