Boris Needs The Iron Lady's Resolve To Deliver Tory Values

Once the steamroller of British politics, Boris Johnson is now limping from one crisis to another. Battered by the Partygate scandal, weakened by economic strife, and undermined by backbench rebellions, the Prime Minister has been plunged into further turmoil by two shattering byelection defeats.

- Leo McKinstry

In Yorkshire, Labour won back the seat of Wakefield on one the largest swings that the party has enjoyed since the war. Even worse for the Tories was the rout in Tiverton, Devon, where the Liberal Democrats achieved the biggest reversal of a Government majority in by-election history.

What makes these setbacks so dangerous for Johnson is the evidence of widespread tactical voting in support of the antiTory cause. At Wakefield, the opposition coalesced around the Labour candidate, prompting the Liberal Democrats to lose their deposit. At Tiverton, exactly the opposite happened.

The local electorate’s determination to oust the Conservatives led to a surge behind the Liberal Democrats, while Labour saw their vote collapse by over 10,000.

FOLLOWING these two humiliations, Tory strategists have been bleating about a “grubby” pact between the two main opposition parties “to hoodwink voters” into supporting a progressive coalition.

But this kind of self-pity is misplaced. There are two main factors behind this new unity among anti-Tory voters.