Tory infighting rages as Liz Truss launches new ‘PopCon’ group TODAY demanding Rishi Sunak shifts to the right to win the next election… with Nigel Farage fuelling …

Nigel Farage warned Tory rightwingers they were a ‘small minority of the parliamentary party today as they launched a ‘Popular Conservative’ movement to pull Rishi Sunak away from the centre ground.

The Ukip, Brexit and Reform Party figure spoke out at the launch of the group – dubbed ‘PopCon’ in London this morning.

The PM’s predecessor Liz Truss joined other senior figures including ex-Cabinet minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg and Lee Anderson, the former Conservative deputy chairman, at the launch of the Popular Conservatives. Also there was former Neighbours star Holly Vallance, with her property magnate husband Nick Candy.

The short-lived former prime minister is set to address the central London event as they seek to pile pressure on Mr Sunak to cut taxes, to adopt hardline policies on immigration and leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

They are not seeking to replace Mr Sunak before the next election but they are seeking a rapid and radical change in direction in the coming months.

But all eyes were on Mr Nigel Farage as he continues to flirt with Tories over a return to their ranks. He attended the event in his role as a presenter for GB News.

Speaking before it started he denied he is seeking to join the Conservative Party ‘at the moment’, adding: ‘You must be joking. Not at the moment, given what they stand for.’

He added: ‘Whilst there were some big names like Liz Truss, Jacob Rees-Mogg – I saw Priti Patel coming into the audience earlier – they are a very small minority within the parliamentary Conservative Party.’ 

It comes as opinion polls show little or no sign of closing between the Tories and Labour, with Sir Keir Starmer’s party enjoying a lead of more than 20 points and Reform surging to its highest ever popularity.

All eyes will also be on Reform Party founder Nigel Farage as he continues to flirt with Tories over a return to their ranks. He attended the event in his role as a presenter for GB News.

The PM’s predecessor Liz Truss was joined by other senior figures including ex-Cabinet minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg and Lord Frost (below), and Lee Anderson, the former Conservative deputy chairman, at the launch of the Popular Conservatives.

Sir Jacob declared that the ‘age of Davos man is over’. In a headline speech at the Popular Conservatism launch, he said voters have had enough ‘of international cabals and quangos telling hundreds of millions of people how to lead their lives’.

They are not seeking to replace Mr Sunak before the next election but they are seeking a rapid and radical change in direction in the coming months.

They are not seeking to replace Mr Sunak before the next election but they are seeking a rapid and radical change in direction in the coming months.

Former Home Secretary Priti Patel was among those at the event in central London today

Headline speaker Sir Jacob railed against an ‘activist judiciary’ and an ‘out-of-touch oligarchy’ in his remarks to the gathering.

He declared that the ‘age of Davos man is over’ and voters have had enough ‘of international cabals and quangos telling hundreds of millions of people how to lead their lives’.

The North East Somerset MP said bodies such as the World Health Organisation and Cop climate summit ‘limit our freedom for manoeuvre’.

‘We have to restore power to our democratic institutions and take it away from those that seek to override democracy,’ Sir Jacob told the event.

Judges are tied to the ‘international elite’, and ‘unaccountable, unelected’ quangos are ‘plugged into EU lawmaking,’ he said.

‘We need to re-establish the traditional relationship between the judiciary and Parliament. Ideally, we should bring it back into Parliament.’

Hardline Tory MPs have demanded the UK dismiss the ECHR amid concerns European judges could scupper the plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda after a last-minute injunction by the Strasbourg court effectively grounded the first flight in 2022.

Sir Jacob denied the grouping is seeking to oust Mr Sunak, who has failed to overturn Labour’s significant poll lead.

He told The Westminster Hour on Sunday: ‘We have this habit of changing leader too often which I think has been a mistake and is why I am very keen that we stick to our current leader because changing again would make us look utterly ridiculous.’

Sir Jacob said he would like to see Mr Farage join the Conservative Party and dismissed claims the new grouping is a vehicle for the rehabilitation of Ms Truss, who was forced to quit as prime minister after just 44 days in No 10 which saw a botched financial statement unleash economic chaos.

It comes as opinion polls show little or no sign of closing between the Tories and Labour, with Sir Keir Starmer’s party enjoying a lead of more than 20 points.

Since stepping down, Ms Truss has continued to promote her tax-slashing, small-government brand of conservatism.

While that continues to enjoy support among some in the Conservative Party, polling published on Monday suggested she is the least popular politician with the general public.

A survey by Savanta indicated her net favorability score is minus 54 per cent, compared to Mr Sunak’s minus 27 per cent.

Truss ally Mark Littlewood, the outgoing head of the libertarian think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs – who is behind the new movement, wrote in The Telegraph: ‘It is up to the Conservatives to make the case for economic freedom and lower taxes.’

The Pop Cons join an already crowded field of right-wing Conservative factions, including the Brexiteer European Research Group, the New Conservatives and Common Sense Group.