Top Tory warns of 'hardest election ever' as party faces robust Labour lead in polls

RISHI SUNAK will have to scale a “steep and narrow path” to pull off a general election victory this year, a senior Tory official said today.

- Nicholas Cecil 

Alan Mabbutt, the Conservatives’ registered treasurer and legal officer, told party supporters that the campaign would be “one of the hardest our party has ever fought”.

The election is expected to take place in the autumn after what will effectively be a gruelling 10-month campaign. By then, party chiefs hope to have closed the large poll gap behind Labour, currently between 15 to 20 points.

Key to achieving this would be easing the cost-of-living crisis. The Prime Minister met his pledge to halve inflation last year, with the rate down to 3.9 per cent by November.

But many families are still struggling after mortgage bills soared and the annual cost of gas and electricity is still on average at around £1,900.

Labour’s strategy will focus on asking voters if they feel better off, or not, after what it calls 14 years of Tory failure.

As both parties ramped up efforts to build election war chests, Mr Mabbutt told supporters: “I’m known for my blunt talk. So I’m going to level with you. This campaign will be one of the hardest our party has ever fought. The path to victory is steep and narrow.”