Sunak Struggles for Control in Face of Dire Polls and Tory Anger

  • UK premier forced to back down after ally threatens snap vote
  • Plots escalate as rebels push compromise caretaker candidates
Rishi Sunak has failed to reverse Conservative Party’s slump in the polls and now the plots to oust him before the next UK general election are gaining momentum.Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
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With each new week, Rishi Sunak’s grip on the UK political narrative appears to be diminishing.

On Monday, Sunak called entrepreneurs and reporters to a speech billed by the UK prime minister’s office as a “major” announcement on the economy, after a weekend of torrid stories about his party plotting against him. The seven-minute address, however, offered little in the way of new policy to reclaim the headlines and dispel the argument he has no prospect of turning things around.