Why have the Tories lost both Mid Bedfordshire and Tamworth, seats they could normally rely on the laws of physics to be able to hold? According to Greg Hands, the party chair, the results are down to ‘legacy issues’ in the seats. They were vacated by Nadine Dorries leaving in disgust in a protracted fashion at not getting a peerage, and Chris Pincher being found to have groped two men in the Carlton Club.
Sunak and a few senior Conservatives do really think there remains a route back at the next general election
Hands also said this morning that he hasn’t seen much enthusiasm for Labour, despite polling expert John Curtice saying the opposition could now be on track for a bigger landslide than Tony Blair’s 1997 victory. His other explanation was that Tory voters largely stayed at home.
There isn’t much of a way to spin two safe seats crashing into opposition hands, which is why the Tory MPs I’ve spoken to this morning are pretty dejected.
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