The May 2 election is off – so what’s the plan now, Rishi?

In ruling out a spring election, the prime minister is storing up a whole world of pain, in the vain hope that, between now and polling day, things can only get better, says Andrew Grice

Demonstrators dressed as chickens protest opposite Downing Street as Labour calls on Rishi Sunak to ‘stop squatting’ in office (Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire)

Unusually, the feverish speculation that Rishi Sunak would hold the general election in May stemmed from his weakness. Normally, when MPs weigh up a prime minister’s options for the election date, they think about how a PM can play to their strengths.

This year, the outlook for the Conservatives is so bleak that rumours swirled around Westminster that Sunak might opt for May to head off a coup by his right-wing critics, and because things could only get worse by the autumn. Even some loyal ministers wondered whether Sunak could limp on until then. Increasingly desperate Tory backbenchers contradicted Downing Street’s line to take. As one told me: “The plan is not working.”

Now the PM has ruled out a May 2 election, he will face a point of maximum danger after inevitable Tory losses at the local elections on that day. His terrible week – with the defection of Lee Anderson to Reform UK, and racist remarks allegedly made by the Tories’ biggest donor Frank Hester – gave the plotters who want to oust Sunak before the election a spring in their step.