Rishi Sunak has insisted his Conservative Party is “united”, despite some Tories calling for him to be replaced in No 10 before a general election.

Conservative former minister Dame Andrea Jenkyns said some Tory MPs, herself included, believe a new leader should take over before the nation goes to the polls.

“I personally want a new leader before the election,” she told the Today Podcast on Thursday.

She said this, combined with more “more conservative policies”, could win back “disaffected voters which we are seeing in the polling”.

We really have turned a corner and we’re now pointing in the right direction

Asked about Dame Andrea’s comments, the Prime Minister told reporters during a visit to Gloucestershire: “I think actually the party is united in wanting to make sure that we don’t have the Labour government, because our plan is the right one for the country.

“And actually, we’ve been through a difficult couple of years. Of course that’s the case, whether it’s with Covid, recovering from that, the impact of the war in Ukraine.

“But the start of this year, we really have turned a corner and we’re now pointing in the right direction. You can see that most clearly with the economy.”

The Tory leader insisted “nothing has changed” since he last said his working assumption was that a general election will be held in the second half of 2024.

“I said at the start of this year, my working assumption was we’d have an election in the second half of this year.

“And nothing has changed since I said that.”