Can Suella win the Battle of Waterlooville?

Home Secretary Suella Braverman will today continue her battle with Labour as the Commons holds the first vote on her ‘Stop the Boats’ Illegal migration Bill.

But Braverman is also locked in another political duel which could have far more serious consequences for her political career.

The feisty frontbencher, who ran for the Tory leadership after the fall of Boris Johnson, is fighting for her political life because boundary changes mean her Fareham constituency is to be merged with neighbouring meon Valley at the next election.

This means she is having to compete for the nomination for the new seat of Fareham and Waterlooville with neighbouring Tory mP Flick Drummond.

Braverman, pictured, is not universally popular among Tory members. Some would prefer a local champion like backbencher Drummond to a

COMEDIAN and author David Baddiel tweeted prophetically on Saturday: ‘What if Match Of The Day turns out to be better without commentators and pundits?’ Overnight ratings yesterday revealed viewing figures went up by 500,000 week on week.

high-profile Cabinet minister. But senior Tories are desperate for her to win the selection battle later this month. ‘How will it look if the Home Secretary, piloting the most contentious Government legislation in years, is dumped by her local party?’ asks one senior party figure. Local Tory activists, however, resent the party HQ interfering in candidate selections. ‘It’s the only power they’ve got,’ observes one battlehardened operative at HQ. ‘They often do the opposite to what they think the leadership wants.’ Braverman will be hoping she’s Wellington rather than Napoleon in the Battle of Waterlooville.