Conservative mayor points finger at Sunak before polls

High-profile Tory mayor Ben Houchen has lashed out at the state of the Conservative Party under Rishi Sunak as he battles to hold on to his job running Tees Valley.

- DAVID MADDOX

In an exclusive interview with The Independent, Lord Houchen warned that his potential defeat in today’s local elections should be “a wake-up call” for Tory MPs. And in an extraordinary broadside at his own party, he said voters were pledging to support him, but not the Tories at the next general election.

Lord Houchen told The Independent: “There are lots of people who will come up to me and speak to me that say that they’re going to vote for me, but they probably won’t be voting for the Conservative Party in the general election.”

He said attempts by ministers to crack down on illegal migration, including the release of pictures showing potential deportees being rounded up, “will not be enough” to save the party. His damning intervention comes as the local election battle intensified yesterday, with the Tories reporting Labour West Midlands mayoral candidate Richard Parker to police for alleged electoral fraud.

There have been predictions the Conservatives could lose more than 500 of the 985 council seats they are defending. Labour also hopes to take the mayoralties of Teeside and the West Midlands as well as many of the 29 police and crime commissioner roles currently held by Tories.