Boris Johnson loyalist Nadine Dorries said it will be “impossible” to avoid a general election in the weeks ahead, as Rishi Sunak was named as prime minister-in-waiting.
Speaking before Mr Sunak was announced as new Tory leader, the former culture secretary warned that “all hell would break” lose if the ex-chancellor is installed at No 10.
Echoing arguments made by Labour, the Lib Dems and the SNP, Ms Dorries tweeted: “It will now be impossible to avoid a GE.”
The ex-cabinet minister also told LBC: “He lost the leadership election to Liz Truss, he hasn’t won this one, he won’t have gone to the members for the vote, and I think it will be very, very difficult for him to sustain the pressure not to go for a general election.”
Attacking Mr Sunak further, Ms Dorries said: “If Rishi becomes automatically prime minister by Tuesday, I think all hell will break loose … He’s got no mandate whatsoever to be prime minister of this country.”
Fellow Johnson loyalist Sir Christopher Chope also called for a general election – saying the Tory party was becoming “ungovernable”, while Tory peer Zac Goldsmith described an election as “morally unavoidable”.
Mr Sunak won the support of a majority Conservative MPs to succeed Liz Truss as Tory leader. Ms Mordaunt, the Commons Leader, bowed out of the race as she apparently failed to get the 100 nominations from Tory MPs required by the 2pm deadline.
Mr Johnson withdrew around 9pm on Sunday – despite insisting that there was a “very good chance” he could have been back in No 10 by the end of the week. He added: “You can’t govern effectively unless you have a united party in parliament.”
Labour’s shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry said the Tories lost their “last desperate reason” for avoiding a general election when Mr Johnson declared he would not run again for leader.
She told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “I thought that that was their last desperate reason for not having a general election … We should have had a general election anyway.”
Sir Christopher Chope said a general election could be on the way – saying the party could very quickly become “ungovernable”.
“If the people who are now seeking the crown want to have the respect that comes from a mandate, the best way to get that respect is winning a mandate from the people, and that’s why I think a general election is essentially the only answer,” he told the Today programme.
Sir Christopher added: “We now have the prospect of having a Conservative party leader who doesn’t have a mandate from the country and won’t even have a mandate from the membership either.”
Tory peer Zac Goldsmith made the same case, tweeting: “I don’t see how we can have a 3rd new prime minister – and a policy programme that is miles away from the original manifesto – without going to the country.”
Jacob Rees-Mogg, who had said it was “Boris or bust”, congratulated Mr Sunak on becoming leader. ““Now is the time for party unity and I congratulate Rishi Sunak on his victory and will support his leadership.”
Key Sunak backer Grant Shapps, the home secretary, insisted there was no need for a general election. “We elect a party and we elect individuals,” he told Sky News.
Mr Shapps admitted it was “unusual” to have three prime ministers in as many months, but claimed Mr Sunak had a legitimate mandate to deliver the 2019 Tory manifesto.
He argued that Liz Truss’s radical tax-cutting plan was the real “diversion” from the manifesto and Mr Sunak would be “more authentic” in delivering Tory promises.
Mr Johnson’s former spokesman Will Walden said many of his allies are “angry” at being marched up the hill for no good reason.
“The only people he has let down this time are the 50 or so colleagues who went public and went over the top for him … A lot of them clearly are angry at meaningless promises,” he told LBC.
Mr Johnson has “gone with very little grace” having “further destabilised the party, albeit briefly”, Mr Walden added – predicting that “he won’t be back”.
Nadhim Zahawi – the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster – was mocked for switching his support to Mr Sunak, only minutes after a piece he wrote for The Telegraph backing “Boris 2.0”.
Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner said Mr Sunak “has no mandate and no idea what working people need”, adding: ”We need a general election so the public get a say on the future of Britain – and the chance for a fresh start with Labour.”
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said Tory MPs “have installed another out-of-touch prime minister with no plan to repair the damage and without giving the British people a say”.
The SNP has said the Tories “cannot be allowed to impose a third prime minister without a general election”, while Plaid Cymru said “the antidemocratic nature of the Westminster system has been laid bare for all to see”.
