Rishi Sunak to rally Tories with garden party after bitter local election defeat
RISHI Sunak will try to rally his Tory troops after the bitter local elections defeat by launching a coronation charm offensive in Downing Street.
The PM is throwing a garden party bash for all Tory MPs at No10 on May 15 to boost party morale.
And he will be inviting backbenchers into Downing Street for tea and chats over the next week.
One government insider said: “There is the garden party coming up.
“And then MPs will be invited to Downing Street to see the PM.”
The mass loses at the polls has reignited calls for Mr Sunak to slash taxes and go on a house building drive to show Brits they are better off under a Tory government.
Rishi’s inner circle want to calm the Tory jitters.
Although they do not believe the election results mean they should radically change course.
They plan to throw some red meat to disgruntled Tory MPs over the next few weeks with a health and law and order blitz.
Rishi will kickstart the fight back on Monday by publishing long-awaited plans to free up hundreds of thousands of GP appointments by getting pharmacists to issue more prescriptions.
Tory MPs said long NHS waiting lists repeatedly came up on the doorstep in the local elections and need to be seriously tackled before the general election is called.
No10 is also planning to push through more details on their crackdown on eco zealots to restore public order and ram home the difference between the Tories and Labour.