Rishi Sunak is facing pressure from senior Tories MPs to “deliver” on key issues if the party wants to avoid defeat at the next general election.
The prime minister had to show voters his party had made improvements in areas including the economy and the NHS before they go to the polls again, they said.
One former cabinet minister, who supported Mr Sunak’s bid to become Tory leader, told The Independent he now had to “deliver on his five priorities”, which included lowering waiting lists and inflation.
Lord Barwell, a Tory peer who served as Theresa May’s chief of staff in No 10, said Mr Sunak had to “deliver improvements on the key issues that matter”, including growing the economy.
The Tories have suffered heavy losses across England, with Labour and the Liberal Democrats both making gains in what another Conservative MP described as a “terrible” night for his party.
The contests were the first to be fought under new rules requiring voters to carry photographic ID, and the elections watchdog said “regrettably” some people were turned away from polling stations as a result.
