Yet this seeming cliche of a Conservative fiefdom is under concerted electoral attack. Suddenly, no Tory stronghold in the area is deemed out of bounds. "If you didn't know any of the politics, you would probably assume this was a hardcore Tory place," conceded Paul Follows, the Liberal Democrat candidate, as he took his latest tour of Godalming high street. "But almost all of these really cliched Conservative places have not been so Conservative for a little while."
Unlikely as it might once have seemed, Hunt's South West Surrey constituency - in Tory hands since its formation in 1983 - has become one of the bricks in the "blue wall" of affluent, pro-remain Tory constituencies that the Lib Dems believe they can dislodge.
Attention on Hunt will only grow after the most obvious candidate for electoral defeat, former deputy prime minister Dominic Raab, announced he would not contest his more marginal Surrey constituency of Esher and Walton at the next election.
This story is from the June 09, 2023 edition of The Guardian Weekly.
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This story is from the June 09, 2023 edition of The Guardian Weekly.
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