‘Snap General Election if Starmer quits over Beergate’: Tories ‘are told to prepare to go to the polls as soon as a new Labour leader is selected’ to capitalise on chaos in opposition ranks

• Reports suggest staff at Conservative Party HQ are planning for a snap election
• Election would be held if Labour leader Starmer is forced to resign over Beergate
• Tories would seek to exploit friction caused by leadership contest, it was claimed

The Conservative Party is putting plans in place to hold a snap general election if Sir Keir Starmer is forced to resign as Labour leader, it has been claimed.

Both Sir Keir and his deputy Angela Rayner have promised to resign if they are fined by police for drinking beer in an MP’s office in Durham in April 2021.

At the time, a ban on any indoor mixing of households was in place. and Durham Police have since issued questionnaires as part of their investigation into whether the gathering broke the law.

Sir Keir has vowed that he will not stand in any subsequent leadership contest if he is found to have breached Covid regulations.

In consideration of this potential outcome, staff at Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) are reportedly putting plans in place to hold a snap general election immediately after any potential Labour leadership contest.

A source told the Times the party is prepared to exploit any splits that would emerge as a result of a leadership battle within the opposition.

Durham Police is currently looking into Keir’s beer and curry night with aides in April last year, which Starmer (pictured above) insists was essential work during the election campaign

Pictured: Deputy leader Angela Rayner has also said she would stand down if issued with a fine

The source said: ‘Labour would have spent three months tearing chunks out of themselves, and each candidate would inevitably have to lurch to the left to win the vote. It’s the best chance we’d have of securing another majority under Boris.’

The scandal broke after the Labour leader was photographed swigging a beer in an MP’s office last year following a day of campaigning in the local elections.

Despite denials stretching back three months, it emerged that Ms Rayner had also been present, along with Durham MP Mary Foy.

It has also emerged that the group of around 20 people shared a £200 curry at a time when buffet-style meals were banned.

Both politicians have denied wrongdoing over the gathering with aides during the local election campaign in April last year, but have pledged to stand down if they are fined.

Labour has argued that food was consumed between work events, meaning it was within the rules.

While aides reportedly remain confident that the pair will follow in the footsteps of Dominic Cummings, who avoided police action after driving to Barnard Castle in 2020, they still likely face a nervous wait.

Another source told the Times: ”Given the latest revelations who have been retrospectively fined, this is being taken very seriously at the highest level.

Johnson (left) vowed to still be in No 10 in the mid 2030s despite suffering a bruising double by-election loss which prompted the resignation of Oliver Dowden (right) as party chairman

Both politicians have denied wrongdoing over the gathering with aides during the local election campaign in April last year

If Labour ends up in a leadership election, that could change the electoral dynamic and the party’s planning at the highest level.

‘There are discussions about all eventualities. They’ve got to have contingencies in all eventualities and this went up the agenda in the light of the revelations that Durham have handed out retrospective fines.’

However, despite the claims, an official party spokesman told the paper there was ‘absolutely no truth’ to the suggestion that the party would call for a snap general election the day after a potential Labour leadership contest.

It comes after Boris Johnson insisted he would seek a third term as Prime Minister and lead his party into the mid-2030s.

Johnson vowed to stay in No 10 despite suffering a bruising double by-election loss which prompted the resignation of Oliver Dowden (right) as party chairman 

As plotting by Ministers, MPs and party donors intensified in the wake of the PM’s drubbing in two by-elections last Thursday, Mr Johnson said he was ‘thinking actively’ about a third term in office – potentially taking him past Margaret Thatcher’s 11 years in Downing Street.

His defiance came as one of the candidates to succeed him told The Mail on Sunday that they expected the PM to face a challenge ‘within weeks or even days’.

Mr Johnson insisted to reporters at a Commonwealth summit in Kigali, Rwanda, that questions of his leadership were ‘settled’ after he won a vote of confidence earlier this month, and pledged he would not undergo any ‘psychological transformation’ in order to win over unsupportive MPs.

If the next General Election is held, as expected, in 2024, Mr Johnson would be seeking a third term in 2028 or 2029, taking him theoretically to 2034.

In reality, most Tory MPs are wondering whether he can remain in power until the Commons summer recess at the end of July.

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