RISHI SUNAK bears ultimate responsibility for the Tory Party being mired in chaos, Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said today as an opinion poll indicated a 30-point lead for Labour.

The Tory peer admitted that his party colleagues are “fighting each other like rats in a sack” after a dismal set of local election results a week ago.

However, Lord Houchen, said there was general disaffection with politics among voters, rather than positive support for Labour, so the Conservatives still have a chance to turn things around.

He spoke on BBC Radio Tees following the defection of Tory MP Natalie Elphicke to Labour and a dire YouGov poll  in the Times, which gave Labour its biggest lead since Liz Truss was prime minister in October 2022.

Labour are on 48 per cent and the Tories on 18 per cent —  just five points ahead of Reform UK among people who said they would vote and expressed a preference — in the survey of 2,072 people between May 7 and 8.

Asked whether Mr Sunak was to blame for the Conservatives’ problems, Lord Houchen said: “Ultimately, it always rests on the shoulders of the leader. All responsibility goes back to the top. It’s the same in my job as well. Ultimately, you’re the one responsible for it.

“But there are lots of people who are involved in the problems with the Conservative Party. It’s a bit of chaos at the minute, right, isn’t it?

“There’s lots of people fighting with each other in the Conservative Party, there are defections going on and ultimately the public do not vote for parties who are not united and are not presenting a united front and also aren’t talking to the public.”