We’ve given up the fight, say top Tories as byelection defeats loom

Rishi Sunak faced criticism at PMQs for deriding Labour’s position on transgender people while the mother of the murdered teenager Brianna Ghey was in the gallery.
Photograph: Uk Parliament/Maria Unger/Reuters

Conservative MPs on Saturday night predicted fresh attacks on Rishi Sunak’s leadership within days, as they accused their own party of surrendering to Labour without a proper fight in two formerly safe Tory seats where byelections will be held this week.

MPs from across the party complained that losses in Wellingborough and Kingswood on Thursday had already been “priced in”, as one senior figure said defeatism had set in, with the party having descended into a “death spiral”.