In just three weeks, voters in some 20 local council areas and in the Runcorn and Helsby parliamentary by-election go to the polls.
It’s the first major test of voter opinion since the election of the Labour government in July, yet despite Labour’s increasing unpopularity, the official Tory opposition is braced for yet another thumping defeat.
Far from anticipating victory, party leader Kemi Badenoch has warned of ‘difficult’ results ahead – code for ‘defeats’ and the loss of Tory controlled councils and seats to Labour, the Lib Dems and the insurgent Reform UK party. The latter is fielding many former Tory defectors as its candidates, including at Runcorn and in Lincolnshire where former Tory minister Dame Andrea Jenkyns is Reform’s candidate to be mayor.
The rise of Reform has led to near panic in the Tory ranks, with former cabinet minister Esther McVey among many Tories and party donors calling for the two parties to unite in an electoral pact.
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