Rishi must take tough decisions after poll defeats

THE Conservative Party is in the fast lane hurtling towards a humiliating and perhaps historic defeat at next year's general election.

- Matthew Goodwin

That's the central message to take away from the party's defeat at two by-elections last week and its narrow victory in Boris Johnson's old seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip.

Some of the numbers are truly historic. In Selby and Ainsty, the Tories saw a remarkable 24-point swing from them toward Labour the second biggest swing from blue to red in by-election history.

The last time Britain witnessed anything like this was in the mid-1990s, when a young Tony Blair and New Labour were preparing for power.

Alongside another heavy defeat to the resurgent Liberal Democrats in Somerton and Frome and a near defeat in Boris Johnson's old seat, the Tories were left with a 21-point collapse in support across all three seats - more than enough to hand Labour the keys to Number 10.

So what's going on?

Well, the blunt reality is the Conservative Party is no longer in touch with much of the country, and especially the people who backed them in 2019.

It's not hard to see why. After the chaos of Boris Johnson's downfall and the calamity of Liz Truss, in the eyes of many the party is incompetent, divided, and toxic.