Tories gear up for next election with laws to woo voters

THE next Queen’s Speech is likely to be slimmed down so ‘Tory laws’ can be passed to appease voters, government aides have been told.

The special advisers were also warned they were already in the ‘long campaign’ for the next general election and were told to focus on preparing for the locals next week on May 5.

One special adviser said: ‘We were told we need to focus on passing Tory laws that the voters want to see. They said there were Tory things that we need to get out and do.’

The adviser was informed the local elections are likely to be a ‘mixed picture’ for the Tories.

Tories face ‘southern discomfort’ as they are braced to lose hundreds of council seats in their traditional heartlands.

With more than 4,000 seats up for grabs, experts suggest the party could be looking at losses between 350-500. Another adviser told The Sun the Queen’s Speech will be ‘slimmed down’ as ‘this is a Tory government and we don’t tax and regulate our way to prosperity’.

Parliament will return on May 10, the date of the State Opening where the Queen or the Prince of Wales will read out the Government’s legislative priorities for the year ahead.

At least 20 Bills are likely to be included but ministers are said to be keen to avoid a repeat of the previous session, where one third did not become law within the promised timeframe.

Half a dozen Bills which were started but not completed have been ‘carried over’ into Parliament’s next session, including the Online Safety Bill.

New Bills are likely to include the Media Bill, formalising the privatisation of Channel 4, and a Railways Bill which will bring most of the country’s train networks under the control of a new centralised body.