Here’s why UK PM Rishi Sunak’s authority is facing challenge

India-origin UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is already facing the first major rebellion of his premiership just a month after he assumed office as dozens of Conservative Members of Parliament oppose the new government’s house building plans.

As per a Bloomberg report, around 47 Tories have signed up to rebel against the amendment bill on house building that would put a ban on the imposition on local councils of mandatory house building targets.

The move by Tories forced Sunak to pull a vote on major house building plans.

The report said, the bill is set to return to the House of Commons, for debate though it’s unclear when or if any amendments will be voted on.

The Tories have promised to build 300,000 new homes a year by the mid-2020s, but efforts by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson to implement a planning policy foundered amid divisions in his party. According to Office for National Statistics data, construction started on almost 206,000 new dwellings in 2021-22.

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