People are not daft... there is no way Labour can come back from this

Winning the next election remains a mammoth challenge for the Conservatives, with Politico’s poll

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of polls putting the party on 17% — just one point ahead of the Greens and one point behind Labour, with Nigel Farage’s Reform UK riding high on 29%.

SIR JAMES insists the coming contest is “absolutely” winnable but he warns this will require “really, really, really hard work”. A key test will come in May when voters go to the polls to elect thousands of councillors and the members of the Scottish and Welsh parliaments.

He cautions against panic if the night goes badly, saying: “The May elections are going to be very, very, very hard for a whole lot of reasons... They’re going to be tough.

“But panic is never the right answer. In business, in the military, in sport and in politics, if one of your options is to panic, don’t take that option because it will not work.”

The Conservatives, he argues, are starting to win back credibility.

“Gently, people are looking at us again,” he says. “And what they’re seeing is a party that is serious about balancing the books.” Sir James,