Why Tory MPs are jumping off Sunak’s sinking ship

An alarming number of Tory MPs are giving up their seats, galvanised by the prospect of being ejected from them at the general election. But, says Andrew Grice, they are also frustrated by an unsympathetic leader who is in denial about the party’s prospects

All hands on deck: the Conservatives have run out of money, steam and ideas (PA)

What do the resignations of ministers James Heappey and Robert Halfon, who are leaving the Commons at this year’s election, tell us? Firstly, that Conservative MPs have little confidence in Rishi Sunak’s ability to retain power; 63 of them, almost one in five, have now announced they will stand down and there are more to come.

When a party knows it is heading for defeat, the number of MPs who quit is higher than the average total of 87 from all parties at recent elections. Some 75 Tories abandoned ship before Labour’s 1997 landslide, while 100 Labour MPs stood down before the party lost power in 2010.

It is perhaps no coincidence that Heappey’s Wells constituency is under threat from the Liberal Democrats, and Halfon’s bellwether seat of Harlow is a key Labour target.