Next week’s crunch by-elections will be “difficult” for the Tories, Rishi Sunak has admitted.
The Tories face potential defeats in three polls in Uxbridge and South Ruislip; Selby and Ainsty; and Somerton and Frome next Thursday.
A hat-trick of humiliating losses would unleash a fresh round of party infighting, with rebel Tories piling pressure on the Prime Minister to change course in the run-up to a general election, widely expected in 2024.