Mailwatch(ed) Forum

I think it’s probably due to where the party is, no one wants to be associated with it, no one likeable anyhow. You could be a Tory and palpable at one time, all that lot kicked out when “big dog” didn’t take kindly to people who disagreed with him. A position that is perfectly ok in a democracy but not in a dictatorship.

Yeah you wonder who wants to stick their neck out for the Tories now. I had a few friends from university, very able, typical Tory young professionals. One did some legwork for them in Battersea, which was a good area for them till Brexit, which got the sane Jane Ellison booted out on a 10% swing. The other lost interest in them after Michael Howard's godawful campaign in 2005 (though he may have voted for Cameron). Be very surprised if either of them bother now.

Tories had a slight lead among those with degree level education until 2017. So not lefties in Che t-shirts as Reform would have you believe but high earners in the Home counties who like rational stable government. Now the Tories can't even hold Tonbridge Wells and could easily lose a dozen more seats if Jenrick leads them into the next GE.

They couldn't even hold South Cotswolds, and probably only held the North Cotswolds because Ed Davey didn't have the resources to target it. Or rather he did, but didn't know it- he romped home in Tewkesbury next door by 6,000.

Good list of Lib Dem target seats here.

https://liberalengland.blogspot.com/202 ... neral.html

Those seats in Hampshire look tempting, not a Home County, but like one outside of Southampton and Portsmouth. I note that Caroline Nokes held on in Romsey and Southampton North, adopting the unusual Tory tactic of sounding personally sympathetic and sane.