TORIES are urging Red Wall poster boy Ben Houchen to become an MP and the next leader of the Conservative Party.
Party insiders have grown increasingly frustrated at Kemi Badenoch’s failure to turn Tory fortunes around and are starting a succession plan.
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They are urging Lord Houchen – the Mayor of Tees Valley – to give up his peerage and become a Tory MP instead.
A Tory Party source said: “The party is in a bad way and people are already talking about who will succeed Kemi as leader.
“No one expects her to be ousted yet – but the chances of her carrying on until the next election are growing slimmer by the day.
“Ben has some of that Boris Johnson magic – he is a winner. We desperately need one of those.”
Lord Houchen declined to comment.
Another Conservative source said Sir David Davis is being talked of as a possible caretaker leader if Kemi is ousted from the top job soon.
The source said: “His name is being talked about.”
The Tory grandee ran to be party leader in 2005, but lost to David Cameron.
The Tories are braced for a bloodbath at the local elections in May, while their arch rivals Reform are expected to hover up votes and council seats.
Grim results are likely to spark calls for Kemi to go as party leader.
But most Tory MPs think it is too early to oust her and that her point of gravest peril will come next year after the Welsh elections.