Government too Left-wing, warn Tory councillors
Poll finds a majority of local representatives are dissatisfied and fear bloodbath in May elections
ALMOST half of Tory councillors believe the Government is too Leftwing, a poll has found.
More than two thirds (65 per cent) are dissatisfied with the national party, according to the survey of 391 Conservative councillors across the country.
The findings are published amid warnings that the local elections on May 2 will be a “bloodbath”, with councillors fearing they will pay the price for the Government’s failings.
The poll, conducted by Savanta, also found that just one in five councillors (22 per cent) is satisfied with the Government’s performance, while the majority (54 per cent) are dissatisfied.
Claire Bullivant, the chief executive of the Conservative Democratic Organisation which represents grassroots Tories, said the true levels of disenchantment among councillors are likely to be far higher than the poll suggests.
“In my experience, most Conservative councillors follow the Ronald Reagan principle and will never berate a fellow Conservative or talk down our party publicly,” she said. “So even though these figures paint a bleak picture, I’m sure they’re actually even bleaker in reality.”
The research was commissioned by Labour Together, a Left-wing thinktank that is contributing to Labour’s election strategy.
It found that 47 per cent of those polled believe the Conservative party is too Left-wing compared to just 24 per cent who say it is too Right-wing. Twenty-six per cent said the party has the balance about right, and three per cent said they did not know.
Ms Bullivant, who also edits the grassroots publication Conservative Post, said: “I have a lot of readers who are councillors and I hear their dissatisfaction on a daily basis.
“You have to remember these guys are our Conservative army who are in the trenches day in and day out, pounding the pavements, doing the donkey work and talking to the public on the doorsteps for very little reward or compensation.
“However, off the record they tell me they are sick of defending Rishi, who isn’t stopping the boats and isn’t delivering on key Conservative issues.
“Many tell me they know May 2 will be a bloodbath and they’re devastated they’ll lose their positions. They know they’re in the firing line paying the price for Rishi’s failings. Everyone is crying out for a truly conservative leader who they can be proud to back on the doorsteps. A leader that stands a chance of beating [Sir Keir] Starmer and keeping the socialists out of No 10.”
Chris Hopkins, the political research director at Savanta, said the views of councillors tend to be a proxy for grassroots sentiment. “Ultimately there is just not a lot of satisfaction with how things have gone for the Conservative party,” he said. “We are definitely seeing in national polling a real switch towards Reform at the moment from Conservative voters.”
Mr Hopkins added: “The issue of immigration is absolutely driving a significant proportion of voters to Reform. It is not necessarily that the Conservative Party are seen as pro-immigration, but that they haven’t delivered on their anti-immigration rhetoric. It must be incredibly demotivating going out on the doorstep and being told that on the one hand you are economically not credible, and on the other hand, you are not Conservative enough.”
A government source said it “can be judged on its actions”, adding: “We’re cutting taxes for 27 million workers, putting £900 back in their pockets, curbing the excessive elements of net zero, pushing back against woke ideology in our schools, investing record sums in defence, and driving forward the toughest ever immigration legislation to send illegal migrants to Rwanda.
“The alternative is Keir Starmer who has no plan, only a French-style wheeze to attack business and destroy jobs, and would take us back to square one.”