Rishi Sunak holds private meeting with chair of influential 1922 committee of backbench Tory MPs amid concerns over party’s direction

Rishi Sunak had a private meeting with the chairman of the 1922 backbench committee on Monday, Sky News can reveal.

The prime minister saw Sir Graham Brady on Monday night on the margins of a scheduled 1922 executive meeting.

It comes amid concerns from growing numbers of MPs at the direction of the Tory party.

One source said they had heard senior backbenchers went to see Sir Graham over the weekend to express their views.

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Number 10 and Sir Graham have been contacted, but neither commented on the meeting.

However, a source confirmed the fact of the gathering and told Sky News the pair met “briefly”.

Sir Graham, the long-time chair of the committee, can hold meetings with the PM and top government figures at important moments in their premiership.

He met Jeremy Hunt, the newly-appointed chancellor, in October 2022 in the final week of Liz Truss’s premiership.

Sir Graham will know how many letters of no confidence have been submitted and how close a vote in the PM’s leadership is to being triggered.

In light of the defection of Lee Anderson to Reform, the row over a donor’s reported language about Diane Abbott, the lacklustre reception of the budget and the continued massive poll deficit, Tory MPs are increasingly anxious about the direction of the party.

Allies of Sunak say that 30-40 Conservative MPs want an election in May.

They say this is a different group to the troublemakers.

They added there was only a 2% chance of an election, and that key campaign figures had booked holidays over Easter.

One Tory MP said they were 50/50 for a May election, and that most colleagues were of the same mind.

“There is argument for just ripping off the sticking plaster,” said one.

Another said a group were looking at forcing the PM into an early election by threatening a vote of no confidence in Mr Sunak after the local elections, when the Tories could lose a substantial number of councillors.