Cabinet heads to Chequers to plot Sunak survival course

When politicians last gathered en masse at the grace-and-favour retreat Chequers, they were farewell parties for prime ministers whose time in office was cut shorter than they expected.

On Thursday, Rishi Sunak will gather his cabinet there for an all-day summit to plot the strategy to ensure his time is not similarly curtailed by his own MPs or more likely by the electorate.

The cabinet will meet at the Buckinghamshire country house where Sunak has been spending most of his weekends as prime minister to begin thrashing through the strategy for the 2024 general election most now expect to be held next autumn.

Rishi Sunak leaves No 10 before prime ministers questions on Wednesday.

Photograph: Tayfun Salc/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock

The prime minister fired the starting gun in early January, with a speech setting out his five key tests for the next two years three on the economy, the others on NHS backlogs and small boat crossings in the Channel.

Ministers will be joined by senior staff from No 10, including the new director of communications, Amber de Botton, and her deputy, Nerissa Chesterfield, as well as the Tory elections strategist Isaac Levido, newly back to the fold after having been ousted by Liz Truss during her short premiership.