Three rings of Tory power have emerged – but there’s only one Rishi Sunak to bind them

Can Sunak please them all? Of course he can’t, writes Marie Le Conte

It is fair to say that Rishi Sunak doesn’t have the strongest of hands as prime minister (REUTERS)

[WARNING: You are about to enter a lengthy and overwrought metaphor. Please proceed with caution.]

It is 11pm on a Saturday night and you are surrounded by your university friends. They have come from out of town to visit you and, right this moment, they are all cross with you. You’d collectively agreed to go to a pub earlier in the evening but it has now closed, and you had made no plans for what was meant to come afterwards.

Some people want to go dancing in a nearby club. Others would like to join the raucous-sounding house party someone in the pub invited you all to. More than a few would like to return to your flat and have some quieter drinks there, without interlopers.

It is your city and you know you should be making a decision, but instead you are paralysed by indecision. You want to please everyone but you are not sure how to go about it. You suggest going back to your flat and having a dance there, or finding another pub so you can keep drinking but without the obnoxiously loud music, or, or, or… no.

None of it is working. You are all standing outside, sobering up fast, getting cold and restless, and you can tell that the night will now be a disappointment whatever happens.

[UPDATE: The metaphor has now ended. You may resume all activities.]

It is fair to say that Rishi Sunak doesn’t have the strongest of hands as prime minister. He tried to become leader of the Conservative Party over the summer and failed; he is only in Downing Street today because he felt like the least bad option, and the party was running out of time.

It would also be reasonable to point out that the parliamentary party he inherited is an especially unruly one. As discussed ad nauseam in previous columns, the various intakes were elected on such different platforms and have such different beliefs and priorities that they cannot be easily ruled.

Finally, no-one could deny that moving on from the Liz Truss and Boris Johnson era of governing like a president accidentally stuck in a parliamentary democracy is a good thing. Prime ministers should not ignore their own benches, tempting as it may seem.

Still, all of this only partially explains why Rishi Sunak isn’t really getting anything done. Over the past few weeks, his government has had to U-turn or backtrack on various plans, following the threat of Tory rebellions. The numbers were never quite large enough to be a threat to his leadership, but clearly that didn’t matter.

As sources close to No. 10 have since pointed out, the prime minister is willing to listen and compromise. It is a commendable approach to leadership, but it is not going to get him very far.

In the past week alone, three groups have appeared or reappeared and made their demands clear. Conservative Way Forward wants major spending cuts on equality and diversity measures in order to cut taxes; Conservative Democratic Organisation wants party members to have more say over policy; Next Gen Tories want cheaper housing and childcare.

To keep up to speed with all the latest opinions and comment sign up to our free weekly Voices Dispatches newsletter by clicking here

Can Sunak please them all? Of course he can’t. Many of them dislike and distrust him anyway, and it would not be possible for any leader, gifted as they may be, to make sure that everyone is happy enough.

What he could do, however, is begin filling the vacuum currently left by his lack of vision. The longer he remains both conciliatory and muted, the louder the grumblings will get. The party needs a plan and, if he doesn’t provide one, others will.

As with our friends standing on the high street and unsure where to go next, most people will be happy enough following provided that they are told what to do. People will always have their own ideas, ideologies or preferences between house parties and clubs but, for the sake of keeping the group together, they can usually put them aside.

Sunak just needs to decide where he wants to go first.