Senior Tories fear ‘disaster’ in London
THE Tories risk being locked out of London for a generation, Cabinet ministers have privately warned amid concerns that tomorrow’s local elections will be “hugely damaging” for Theresa May’s leadership.
Senior Conservatives have admitted that the Tories could be decimated in the capital and lose traditional strongholds such as Wandsworth and Westminster.
There is mounting concern that the backlash over Brexit could be compounded by fury over the treatment of Windrush migrants threatened with deportation. A Cabinet source said: “Fundamentally these local elections are an indicator of how the general public think the Government are doing. This is a judgment on the Prime Minister, it has the potential to be hugely damaging.
“Even the most optimistic projections look like a disaster. We could be locked out of London for a generation.”
Labour already dominates the capital, controlling 20 of London’s boroughs compared to the Conservatives’ eight. However polls have suggested that the Tories will lose heavily with even traditional strongholds Kensington, Chelsea and Hillingdon, the home of Boris Johnson’s seat, at risk. Over the last decade London has increasingly shifted towards Labour, amid concerns that the Tories are failing to appeal to ethnic minority voters.
Brandon Lewis, the chairman of the Conservative Party, warned that if Tory supporters fail to get out and vote they will end up with “Bolsheviks in charge of your bins”.
He told The Daily Telegraph: “The fact is Conservative councils deliver better local services. And charge less for them. Conservative councils around the country make sure your bins are collected regularly, your streets and parks are kept clean and your roads are repaired. And council tax under Conservative councils is on average around £100 less than under Labour on a Band D home. Jeremy Corbyn’s hard-left Momentum group are standing candidates across the country as they seize control of the Labour Party. And be in no doubt to what they will bring.
“They have called for 20 per cent hikes in council tax, new local income taxes and bin strikes that leave rubbish piling in the street. So if you don’t want to wake up on Friday with Bolsheviks in charge of your bins, get out and vote Conservative tomorrow.”
A recent poll suggested that the Tories trail Labour by 22 points in London, although the gap narrowed in the wake of the anti-semitism scandal and questions over Jeremy Corbyn’s position on the Salisbury attack, Russia and Syria.
Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, a former Conservative Party chairman, said recently: “Of course because of the Windrush tragedy we are going to find people who find it difficult to vote for us, but this is much broader,” she said. “I genuinely feel that much of the progress made in the David Cameron detoxification process has been damaged”.
Sajid Javid, the new Home Secretary, raised concerns that the Windrush scandal has further damaged the Tories’ popularity.
He said: “I do accept that there may be ethnic-minority voters [for whom] that will cause them concern.”