The fragile authority of the UK Prime Minister has come under attack after Tory MPs mounted a plot to unseat him, it has been reported.
Latest polling has found that Rishi Sunak faces a meltdown in the general election this year, with the opposition Labour Party potentially securing an enormous 250-seat majority.
The dire state of the governing party has led alleged Tory plotters to put forward the widely respected Penny Mordaunt as their leader.
Back benchers are reportedly keen to unseat Mr Sunak in a “bloodless coup”, replacing him with Ms Mordant, who holds the cabinet position of Leader of the Commons.
The apparent plotting, reported in several UK newspapers, has come as the Conservatives remain a steady 20 points behind Labour in the polls.
An unnamed corporate business study using seat-by-seat research has shown the potential scale of defeat facing the ruling party.
It said the Conservatives could fall to under 150 seats, even less than 165 the party won in 1997 election and the 156 in the Liberal Party landslide of 1906.
Analysts suggested the best-case scenario for the Conservatives would be for Labour’s support to suffer during the election campaign and backing for the anti-immigration Reform Party to drop, resulting in a 50-seat majority for the opposition.
The Tories have a 52-seat majority with 348 MPs but according to the Electoral Calculus website this could drop to 113 seats – or in a worse-case scenario as few as 42.
A Labour majority of more than 200 seats would dwarf the 179 majority that Tony Blair won in Labour's landslide 1997 election triumph.
Despite the grim polling prospects, there still remains a possibility of Mr Sunak calling a general election in June, if forced to do so by the internal turmoil, rather than an expected date in the autumn, most likely in November.
The much-respected Defence Minister James Heappey was the latest MP to announce he would not be standing in the election, becoming the 65th Conservative member to retire, a number that includes the former prime minister Theresa May.
“It’s all last-days-of-Rome stuff,” one political observer said.
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?
- George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
- Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
- Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
- Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.
Hunting park to luxury living
- Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
- The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
- Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Scoreline
Man Utd 2 Pogba 27', Martial 49'
Everton 1 Sigurdsson 77'
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 6 (McTominay 2', 3'; Fernandes 20', 70' pen; Lindelof 37'; James 65')
Leeds United 2 (Cooper 41'; Dallas 73')
Man of the match: Scott McTominay (Manchester United)
Business Insights
- As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
- SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
- Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
Cinco in numbers
Dh3.7 million
The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown
46
The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.
1,000
The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]
50
How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday
3,000
The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
1.1 million
The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.
