Kemi Badenoch is member of ‘Evil Plotters’ WhatsApp group despite telling rebels to 'stop messing around'

Badenoch also claimed that colleagues who suggested she would be a good alternative to the PM were not her "friends".

But sources told the Guardian that the Business Secretary is a member of a WhatsApp group, alongside Levelling up Secretary Michael Gove, of Conservative MPs who are said to be rallying around BAenoch's long-term ambitions.

Tory sources said that she is not actively planning to remove Sunak ahead of the next general election, but her team is ready to "leap into action" should he be forced out.

A spokesperson for Badenoch told the Guardian: “This is exactly the sort of stirring Kemi was referring to when she told people to stop messing around on Sunday.

“Having lunch, speaking to MPs, and having a parliamentary special adviser is not a plot, it is the day-to-day job of being a secretary of state. This utter nonsense is clearly part of a targeted campaign against Kemi and anyone reading it should treat it as such.”

Speaking over the weekend, Badenoch said: "A lot of people who are going around doing this are creating problems and difficulties that the party, and more importantly the country, does not need.

"I fully support the prime minister and I have said many times that I stood to be leader and lost, and the last time we had a contest after Liz Truss resigned I said that the right person to lead the country was Rishi Sunak, and I still believe that to be the case."

This came just days after former Cabinet minister Simon Clarke urged Rishi Sunak to quit in a blistering intervention in the Telegraph.

He warned that the PM "is not listening to what the British people want”.

Clarke said: "The unvarnished truth is that Rishi Sunak is leading the Conservatives into an election where we will be massacred.

"Denial of impending catastrophe is an extraordinarily powerful human instinct."

The MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland continued: "Our country, with all the challenges we face, is on the brink of being run by Keir Starmer’s Labour for a decade or more.

"If Nigel Farage returns to the fray, as looks increasingly likely, extinction is a very real possibility for our party.

"And it is now beyond doubt that whilst the Prime Minister is far from solely responsible for our present predicament, his uninspiring leadership is the main obstacle to our recovery."

But MPs rallied around the PM, with former Home Secretary Priti Patel telling GB News: "At this critical time for our country, with challenges at home and abroad, our party must focus on the people we serve and deliver for the country. Uniting and serving the county must be our priority.

"Engaging in facile and divisive self-indulgence only serves our opponents, it's time to unite and get on with the job."

Former Cabinet minister Liam Fox accused Clarke of "having an agenda to destabilise the Government".

Writing on X, he said: "This is not the time for self-indulgence and tribalism in the party.

"Those who have an agenda to destabilise the government in an election year should understand the consequences. Having been on the front bench for all 13 years in opposition, it is a miserable place. Be warned."

Former Brexit Secretary David Davis added: "This is getting silly. The Party and the country are sick and tired of MPs putting their own leadership ambitions ahead of the UK's best interests.

"It is really about time that these people realise they have a duty to the country that is greater than their personal leadership ambitions."

Meanwhile, a senior Conservative spokesperson told GB News: “This is a self-indulgent attempt to undermine the government at a critical moment for the country. He may claim to be helping the party but the only person he is doing any favours for is Sir Keir Starmer.”