‘Boris was stabbed in the back’: voters in Tory heartland Spalding defend PM

John Bland, chairman of the Spalding Civic Society, says there is ‘a sense of long-term neglect’ in the town. Photograph: Antonio Olmos/The Observer

Spalding is the heart of the Fens and the soul of Toryland. This Lincolnshire town is among the safest Conservative seats in the UK – the constituency of South Holland and The Deepings returned its MP, Sir John Hayes, with 75.9% of the vote in 2019.

So the disappointment expressed by Conservative-supporting townsfolk in Spalding at the decision to cut short Boris Johnson’s premiership should ring alarm bells for his successors. If Johnson is looking for a country retreat after he hands back the keys to Chequers, he’ll find an enthusiastic welcome here. Less so his parliamentary colleagues.