Tory Mayor Predicts Reform Would Win A Majority If An Election Were Held Today

Ben Houchen, Mayor of the Tees ValleyA Conservative peer has predicted that Reform UK would win a majority if a general election were held today.Speaking on the first day of the Tories’ annual conference in Manchester, Ben Houchen – who is also the mayor for Tees Valley – said his party has a “long way to go” after all the “damage” of the last government.It’s a blow to Kemi Badenoch who is attending the Tory conference for the first time as party leader, 11 months after winning the party’s leadership contest.The Conservatives have slumped even further in the polls in that time, and are now down to 16% according to YouGov, while Reform are in the lead on 29%.So Times Radio host Adam Boulton asked the Tory peer on Sunday: “Is it remotely credible, looking back at Liz Truss, Lady Mone, and all the rest, that the Conservatives could live that down?”Truss crashed the UK economy and left office after less than 50 days in 10 Downing Street, while peer Michelle Mone – who used to sit in the Lords as a Tory – has been ordered to repay £122m of taxpayer funds after a firm linked to her broke a Covid contract.Houchen replied: “It’s going to be tough. Honestly, if there was an election today, I believe Reform would win a majority.“That’s how much damage has been done.“Migration, public spending, not doing Conservative things it all built up. And Reform is now a real force on the pitch.“So yes, it’s possible, but there’s a long way to go.“A strong conference doesn’t fix it. We need months, years, of hard graft.”His remarks follow a report from Sky News which alleged that a donor and personal advisor to Badenoch has just defected to Reform, having given the Tory leader £2,000 for her leadership campaign last October.The Conservatives suffered a historic loss in the 2024 general election, taking just 122 seats as voters turned their back on the party after 14 years in power.But Houchen added that he would “never” have predicted the current state of politics back in 2021 – and “the next four years will be no different”.Asked by Times Radio if they need a “different personality” leading the party, he said that Badenoch is “punchy and more energetic”.Houchen said: “Farage is Reform. Without him, it collapses.“But we’ve got depth, Kemi is punchy and more energetic than she’s been in months.“But you’re right, we’re in an era of ‘vibe politics’.“The Conservatives need to be in that game, too. Kemi must combine that with policy depth.“Take the indefinite leave to remain issue, we’ve got a plan. Reform don’t. They announced it and couldn’t back it up.”Houchen, one of only two Tory regional mayors in England, also noted: “The biggest challenge right now is that while we’ve been thinking about policy internally, we haven’t been on the playing field. That left space for Labour and Reform.“We need to be more political, sharper, faster, out there putting forward our arguments. People aren’t really listening to us right now. The first job Kemi has is to make people care about what the Conservative Party has to say again.”He suggested the Tories focus on the economy ahead of the November Budget, claiming this is an area where Labour has made “huge and terrible mistakes”.The Tory peer pointed out that Reform have “veered to the left” with their economy policies, nationalisation, trade unions and lifting the two-child benefit cap.“That leaves space for a sound, sensible Conservative Party to do what it does best, get a grip on the economy,” Houchen said.Related...Exclusive: Labour Staffers Say They Are 'Embarrassed' To Work For The Party Amid Starmer WoesReform UK Chief Left Squirming Over Former Party Leader Who Made Pro-Russia Statements For CashExclusive: Bridget Phillipson Calls On Kemi Badenoch To Kick Liz Truss Out Of Tory Party

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