Tory local election candidate reveals voters are ripping down posters and BURNING them amid fears disillusioned Blue Wall areas could ‘flip’ to the Lib Dems and Labour
- Tory election candidate reveals her posters are being ripped down and burned
- She describes how some in Somerset don’t want to vote Tory due to the PM
- There are fears the Conservatives could lose ‘Blue Wall’ areas on Thursday
A Conservative local election candidate has revealed her posters are being ripped down and burned as she described how some voters are citing Boris Johnson as a reason for not backing the Tories ahead of this week’s poll.
Dawn Denton, a Tory candidate for Somerset County Council, also claimed she would not be attending a hustings event in Frome because she doesn’t think ‘nasty’ locals will give her a fair hearing.
The account will raise fears among Conservatives that the party could suffer a local election drubbing on Thursday, amid a backlash at the Partygate scandal that has rocked the Prime Minister and voter despair at the cost-of-living crisis.
There are fears that ‘Blue Wall’ areas in the south of England could switch from the Tories to either the Liberal Democrats or Labour on Thursday.
Those concerns among Conservatives have been heightened by claims the Lib Dems and Labour have entered into a secret electoral pact.
It is claimed this has seen them stand aside in areas where the other party might be better placed to beat the Tories – although Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has denied such a pact has been agreed.
Pollsters have found that the Lib Dems could this week be set to gain the new single unitary authority in Somerset, to which Ms Denton is seeking election.
Speaking to the Telegraph, she described how her election posters were getting ‘trashed’.
‘People say they are going to put them up really close to the election, because we know they’re not going to survive,’ she said.
‘I’ve had people throw leaflets back out the door at me as well.’
Ms Denton also told the newspaper that locals often cite Boris Johnson personally as a reason not to back the Tories.
‘They say that if they vote Conservative, they are endorsing Boris,’ she said.
‘They don’t want to endorse him because then it looks like he’s doing well.
‘But if they get a sense that those in Westminster are holding Boris to account, then they’ll cast their vote Conservative.
‘So they are waiting to see what happens this week.’
There are fears among Conservatives that the party could suffer a local election drubbing on Thursday, amid a backlash at the Partygate scandal that has rocked the Prime Minister and voter despair at the cost-of-living crisis
Elections are taking place this week in some local councils in England, Wales and Scotland, as well as London boroughs and the Northern Ireland Assembly
There are claims Sir Ed Davey’s Lib Dems and Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour have entered into a secret electoral pact
As he continued Labour’s election campaigning in Worthing today, Sir Keir claimed that rising prices were keeping people up at night
Elections are taking place in some local councils in England, Wales and Scotland, as well as London boroughs and the Northern Ireland Assembly.
The results in Britain will provide a strong marker of the state of play ahead of a general election expected in 2024.
As he continued Labour’s election campaigning in Worthing today, Sir Keir claimed that rising prices were keeping people up at night as he again repeated his call for the Government to do more to help Britons with soaring energy bills.
‘Everybody is talking about the cost-of-living crisis,’ he said.
‘The thing that has been keeping people up at night is worrying about paying their bills and being whacked with tax by the Government.
‘From the Labour Party point of view we think that there should be a windfall tax on oil and gas companies in the North Sea, they have made more profit than they are expecting.
‘Use that for energy bills, up to £600 for those who need it most.’
Sir Keir yesterday denied that Labour has a secret electoral pact with the Lib Dems ahead of Thursday’s elections.
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