The Tories are on course to lose 1,000 councillors at next month’s local elections, the party’s own chairman claimed today.
Cabinet Minister Greg Hands desperately tried to manage expectations in the run-up to polling day on May 4, with Labour predicted to make big gains at the Conservatives’ expense.
Analysts believe the Tories could be stripped of hundreds of seats in ballots across the country as the cost-of-living crisis and a wave of public sector strikes grip the nation.
"The independent expectations are that the Conservatives will lose more than 1,000 seats and that Labour need to make big gains," party chairman Greg Hands told the Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme on Sky News.
“Those are the independent predictions from the most credible academic sources - that the Conservatives are likely to lose 1,000 seats.”
But he added: "I'm campaigning really hard, we've got some brilliant councillors, great candidates out there."
Senior party figures often downplay their chances of winning or retaining seats in local polls so, if results turn out to be dismal but still not as bad as initially feared, they can try and trumpet a success.
Party chiefs also indulge in games of “expectation management” so their traditional voters do not become complacent.
However, recent polls suggest the Conservatives could be hammered at local elections, with high inflation and economic turmoil clobbering families’ budgets and the party still paying the price for the political chaos unleashed by former Prime Minister Liz Truss’ 49-day premiership and the scandal-hit reign of Boris Johnson.
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