Tories Warn Ministers May Lose Seats At Next Election If Johnson Remains At Helm

Conservative MPs are privately warning that a swathe of cabinet ministers and other high-profile Tories are on course to lose their seats at the next general election under Boris Johnson.

- Jessica Elgot

Those with seats at risk in the south of England include the deputy prime minister, Dominic Raab, the cabinet minister, Jacob Rees-Mogg, and the former health secretary Jeremy Hunt. MPs in London whose seats are at risk include the former cabinet ministers Iain Duncan Smith and Theresa Villiers. Johnson himself would be on course to lose to Labour in Uxbridge, although pollsters often say incumbent prime ministers enjoy some electoral cushion.

Others at risk of losing their seats include Steve Baker and William Wragg, key critics of Johnson.

Polling suggests the Conservative vote holds up better in north-east England and the east Midlands than it does in the south, which was borne out by local election results.

At least one senior MP has privately warned colleagues that antipathy to Johnson is creating a perfect storm for the party in which it could lose big majorities in the south of England, and smaller leads in the north of England because fewer voters in the north need to turn against the Tories in order for a seat to be lost.