Tory switchers less keen on Sunak’s smoking ban

It’s the threat the Tories really fear: a high-profile defection at the beginning of an election year. Richard Tice’s Reform party might be polling at around 10 per cent nationally but until now they’ve struggled to make an impact in Westminster. That could all change if Lee Anderson, the red wall Rottweiller, chooses to defect following his loss of the Tory whip last Friday. ‘His sentiments are supported by millions of British citizens, including myself’, declared Tice in a statement last night.

And now Mr S has evidence suggesting that the government might be inadvertently aiding Reform’s cause through their choice of priorities. One such example is gradual smoking ban announced by Rishi Sunak at October’s Conservative party conference. Polling of 2,014 adults for FTI Consulting this month found that approximately two-thirds (65 per cent) of voters in marginal constituencies agree that, ahead of next week’s Budget, the Conservatives should focus on reducing taxes, not regulating tobacco products.