Amid all the discussion in Tory circles about whether the next election will have more in common with the narrow victory of 1992 or the landslide defeat of 1997, nobody has ever made the case for 1993. But after the Conservatives’ shattering loss of two of their nominally ‘safest’ seats to Labour in by-elections in Tamworth and Mid-Bedfordshire last night, it is time for that year to be given a podium in the debate.
The election which took place in 1993 in Canada was a near-extinction level event for its Conservative party, which went from an outright majority in the House of Commons in Ottawa to just two seats. While it would be surprising to see the British Tory party plumb quite those depths, the idea of a landslide defeat significantly worse than the one which occurred in 1997, which left it with 165 seats, has suddenly become quite feasible.
These are damning public verdicts on Sunak’s nerdy and underpowered style of leadership
The sheer scale of the opinion shifts which powered Labour to victory in two Tory heartlands last night is hard to digest.
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