Rishi Sunak to defy election humiliation with surprise speech at Tory conference

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox

Get our free View from Westminster email

Get our free View from Westminster email

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

Rishi Sunak is set to defy the record electoral humiliation he inflicted on his party and give a final keynote speech at his party’s conference in October.

The former prime minister has been criticised for “letting Labour get away with murder” over the summer with an extended absence from the political scene, even though he is still leading the Conservatives while they try to find a new leader in a four-month process.

And questions were being asked over whether he would even attend the party conference in Birmingham this year.

The conference’s main focus will be on the late stages of the leadership race, with the final four candidates taking part in a “beauty contest” with members.

Some Tory MPs had suggested that Mr Sunak may want to avoid the conference after leading the Tories to the worst general election defeat in their 346-year history after calling an early poll for 4 July instead of waiting until later this year.

One MP told The Independent: “I am not sure what he [Sunak] would have to say or whether people would even want to hear it.”

Others have suggested that Mr Sunak might be “the last person” members want to hear from after leaving his party with just 121 MPs.

But a senior party official working in central office (CCHQ) has confirmed that the former prime minister will give a speech at the conference, even though he has been absent from the political scene since parliament broke up for recess.

The official said: “He [Sunak] will give a speech. We don’t know which day yet or what he will say, but he will be speaking.”

The revelation comes amid growing criticism of Mr Sunak’s absence from the political scene over the summer.

Former leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith warned on GB News’s Camilla Tominey Show that the party leadership is letting the Labour government “get away with murder”.

It comes amid concerns over Labour’s first two months in government with claims that they found a £22bn black hole in the public finances which in turn has led to winter fuel payments for 10 million pensioners being cancelled.

There have also been allegations of “cronyism”, with Labour allies receiving civil service appointments and concerns over the way the far-right riots were handled.

Ms Tominey asked: “Where is Rishi Sunak in all this? He’s the leader of the opposition. I appreciate he is in an interim role but serious decisions are being made as we speak – we can’t just all pause. Where are the attack lines coming from?”

Sir Iain said: “You have people shadowing ministers and an opposition leader, so I would simply say to them, you have got a job to do right now and you can’t just quit the stage and wait for the opposition leaders’ debate to take place and the votes.

“I say to them, you have got a job to do. You can’t just say, ‘well I lost the last election’. Yes you lost the last election, we lost big time, but that does not mean to say you can just walk away and cry in the corner somewhere.”

With Nigel Farage’s Reform UK and the Lib Dems in the background, Sir Iain also warned that if the Tories do not get their act together, others could “steal their clothes” as the main opposition party.