Iceland boss Richard Walker has appeared to suggest his bid to stand as a Conservative MP may be put in the deep freeze as the cost of living crisis heaps further pressure on the Government.
The businessman, whose father founded the budget frozen food chain, was named on the approved list of parliamentary candidates in 2022 and was expected to stand at the next general election.
However with inflation remaining sky high, soaring bills and civil war threatening to tear the Conservative party apart, Mr Walker on Wednesday seemed to joke that he was not sure if attempting to become a Tory MP was “a good idea”.
He insisted he was “fully focused” on his business. Asked whether he would be standing at the election, expected next year, he told BBC Radio 4: “It is of course a really challenging time for our customers so that is 100 per cent of my focus so we’ll see what happens in the future.
“I think we are all going through challenging times, the Government included. I’ve got 30,000 colleagues who depend on me to run the business well and five million customers.”
At least 35 Tory MPs have announced they will stand down at the next election.
Mr Walker added that he is “still on the list” of approved candidates and he “will see where we get to”.
Labour now has a roughly 16-point lead over the Tories in public opinion polls.
It comes as Rishi Sunak faces a quadruple by-election threat.
Three votes have been scheduled for July 20 after David Warburton stepped down in Somerton and Frome, Nigel Adams resigned in Selby and Ainsty and former PM Boris Johnson quit his Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat in fury over the Privileges Committee report.
Nadine Dorries announced she would leave her Mid Bedfordshire constituency with immediate effect almost two weeks ago after learning she was removed from Mr Johnson’s controversial resignation honours list.
But she is yet to officially resign.
MPs are preparing to launch a new inquiry into House of Lords membership and the role of the appointments commission following the row over Mr Johnson’s peerages appointments.
Among the seven nominees on his list were ex London Mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey and Charlotte Owen, a 29-year-old former adviser to Mr Johnson.
Mr Bailey faces calls to turn down his peerage after a video emerged of a “jingle and mingle” Christmas party during lockdown at Conservative Campaign Headquarters. Police said they are evaluating the footage from the event in December 2020.
The powers of House of Lords Appointments Commission (Holac), as well as the size and role of the second chamber, will be among the issues considered by the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee inquiry.
The cross-party committee will examine whether the current appointments system produces an “effective and trusted” upper chamber.
There have been long-standing concerns over the expanding size of the second house, with Labour pledging to abolish the Lords if it wins power.
Committee chairman and Tory MP William Wragg, who is standing down at the next election, said: “The House of Lords plays an important constitutional role in the UK political system but there has long been concern about its size, membership and the appointments process.”
