Rishi Sunak is undertaking a week-long blitz of activity and announcements at home and abroad in a bid to convince a sceptical party he has the ideas and drive to continue as prime minister.
After weeks of criticism about an empty legislative agenda, an inability to set the agenda, and divisions in the Tory Party dominating the headlines, this week “action man” Mr Sunak will seek to take back control with news conferences, interviews and announcements.
On the Politics At Jack And Sam’s podcast, we discuss how Mr Sunak is aware of a possible challenge to his position with a vote of no confidence after the local and mayoral elections on 2 May.
He is undertaking a burst of activity to be able to point to his MPs to a rich agenda both this side of a general election and beyond.
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‘Patience is thin’ over Rwanda bill delays
On Monday, the PM will hold a news conference to champion the likely passage into law of the emergency Rwanda legislation first announced last year.
Then on Tuesday, he will embark on a two-day European trip, beginning in Warsaw, with a major announcement planned as part of the trip.
Some sources expect the announcement to be defence-related, possibly around jointly training troops and sharing equipment with Poland and the West Balkans.
This is Mr Sunak’s first major trip on to the world stage in months, apart from a brief visit to Ukraine.
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It follows his first set-piece speech outside the Commons last Friday about welfare reform.
Many of the ideas there were designed for the manifesto and to be implemented in the next parliament in the unlikely event the Tories win.
The looming spectre of a challenge has led to some conversations about holding the election over the summer, with the starting gun fired possibly even announced before the local elections.
This remains unlikely, however, since it would be possible for the opposition to present this as a move prompted by panic, and the Tories remain around 20 points behind in the polls.
Therefore appealing to his party to allow him to stay in the job, by showing a blizzard of action and announcements, is a priority for Mr Sunak amid continued speculation about his party’s unhappiness.
Some 57 Tory MPs voted against his flagship smoking ban policy last week, with a further more than 100 abstaining, in a sign of his lack of grip on the party.