Ben Wallace has told Tory rebels it is “too late” to replace Rishi Sunak and they must focus on trying to win the next general election. 

The former defence secretary said Tory leadership “shenanigans” only benefit the Labour Party. 

He told Times Radio: “There comes a moment in time in the electoral cycle where you effectively put on your best suit, you stand up and you march towards the sound of the guns and you get on with it. 

“Rishi Sunak is the Prime Minister. He set out his plan. He set out his idea and vision, which I think is to effectively, quite rightly, fix the economy, get inflation down. If we get inflation down, we can see interest rates drop. 

“Whether colleagues are happy with him or not, it’s too late, right. Get on with it. Stand up. And you know, at some stage this year, commit to engage in the general election and put our best case forward. There is no other alternative. And that’s just the reality of it.”

He added: “Ultimately the only victor of this type of shenanigans is the Labour Party. But actually, look, we are 14 years into a government, time to put our best case forward, whenever that may be.”