Rishi Sunak told to 'get shovelling' to dig Tories out of deep electoral hole ... trends now

Rishi Sunak is under enormous pressure to dig the Tories out of a gaping electoral hole today after the party suffered a local elections nightmare.

The Prime Minister and his allies are on the defensive after the Conservatives lost hundreds of local council seats and the prestigious West Midlands mayoralty to Labour.

There has also been a furious wave of recriminations and criticism after the Tory candidate for London mayor, Susan Hall, was roundly thrashed by Labour incumbent Sadiq Khan.

The scale of the defeats has raised fresh questions about Mr Sunak's leadership, though rebel backbenchers do not appear to have the stomach to remove him.

Suella Braverman, the Conservative former home secretary, was quick to lay the blame for Tory losses at the door of Downing Street, but she said ousting Mr Sunak as party leader 'won't work'. 

Writing in the Telegraph she said: 'The hole to dig us out of is the PM's, and it's time for him to start shovelling.'

However, Mr Sunak tried to suggest that he is doing the right thing, despite the seismic scale of the loses and the party's ongoing dire poll ratings.

In a statement released late last night he said: 'Our plan is working.'

He added: 'It's been disappointing of course to lose dedicated Conservative councillors and Andy Street in the West Midlands, with his track record of providing great public services and attracting significant investment to the area, but that has redoubled my resolve to continue to make progress on our plan. So we will continue working as hard as ever to take the fight to Labour and deliver a brighter future for our country.'

Party chairman Richard Holden, who is also facing criticism over the election campaigns, also tried to calm furious politicians and activists.

Writing in the Telegraph he claimed that the result showed there was 'no surge in love for Sir Keir Starmer'.

'While Labour made some gains, they have failed to romp to victory, falling well short of the 350 predicted gains,' he said.

He added that 'the public has had enough of infighting', saying: 'It is incumbent on me to communicate this message from voters to my colleagues – leave sniping from the sidelines to Sir Keir, get behind our Prime Minister and make the case for our party to our country.'

Andy Street dramatically lost the West Midlands mayor battle last night in a body blow for the PM. 

There were cheers and whoops as the declaration came that the Tory incumbent had been defeated by Labour rival Richard Parker after an extraordinary struggle that saw a series of recounts.

Following hours of wrangling, Mr Street was finally edged out by 1,508 votes - from a three-million strong electorate - with his opponent posting pictures of his celebrations. 

The failure of the former John Lewis boss to secure a third term is a huge setback for the PM, and left him with almost nothing to cling to from a nightmare set of local elections.

Keir Starmer hailed the 'phenomenal result' saying it was 'beyond our expectations'. 

Rebels immediately warned that the 'game-changing' defeat meant Mr Sunak could now face a fresh bid to oust him - although other MPs reiterated their view it was too late. 

The premier had been desperate for Mr Street to join Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen in the winner's circle, demonstrating that the party can still win big contests.

Lord Houchen's success had seemingly helped Mr Sunak quell a revolt. However, the latest defeat immediately inflamed anger, critics pointing to the relentlessly grim results for the Conservatives. The party is likely to end up losing nearly 500 councillors in one of the worst showings for 40 years. 

One Tory MP told MailOnline that Downing Street had quelled dissent up to now by 'bullsh*****' that 'all's going to be fine' and suggesting Susan Hall was going to win in London. 

'Despite all the highly positive private spin from No10 to Tory MPs since Thursday, we've lost well over 400 council seats, Andy Street has lost, Susan Hall has been defeated in London,' they said.

'Ben Houchen won without having the balls to wear a blue rosette, even at his own victory count... Rishi's Sunak's utterly hapless Leadership is now definitely in play.' 

The MP added that they had not sent a letter of no confidence before, but would be now - predicting that the threshold of 52 for a vote would be hit. 

Ex-Cabinet minister Simon Clarke, a public critic of Mr Sunak, reportedly posted on a Tory WhatsApp group after the news broke: 'These results are awful, and should be a massive wake up call.' 

A former minister told MailOnline that victory for Mr Street would have 'eased the pressure' on the PM.

'For those who say it would be madness to have another leader now just look at the statistics. They say that is precisely what the majority of Tory voters want,' they said.

'I think there will be more reflection now. There will be a lot of phone calls being made this Bank Holiday weekend, not least by supporters of rival candidates, although

read more from dailymail.....