The Daily Express has commended “bullish” Boris Johnson following the local elections which saw the Tories lose three key London seats, its only Welsh seat, drop to the third biggest party in Scotland and shed hundreds of councillors elsewhere.
With results in from 144 of the 146 councils, a clear picture has emerged across the country.
The Conservatives suffered a net loss of almost 400 councillors as a day of vote counting delivered a bruising set of local election results for the prime minister.
Ministers conceded it had been “tough” for the ruling party, particularly in the south of England where it lost ground to Labour in London and the Liberal Democrats in its “blue wall” heartlands.
As the losses trickled in throughout the day, Tory figures continued to publicly raise the prospect of Boris Johnson being replaced as party leader as one senior pollster suggested middle and upper class voters had distanced themselves from the PM after his fixed-penalty notice for breaking Covid laws.
A Labour spokeswoman said: “Boris Johnson was on the ballot paper and the British public has rejected him.
“The question every decent Conservative will be asking themselves is how much further are they willing to fall for a man who never fails to put his own interest above his councillors, his MPs, his party, and his country.”
Tory peer Lord Hayward said there had been a “revolt of the upper to middle class” against Mr Johnson’s leadership.
But according to the Daily Express he didn’t do half bad.
The newspaper splashed that “bullish Boris” is “back on track” as the Red Wall stayed on side.
The front page contrasted starkly with most other national newspapers, which decided to portray a more accurate picture:
Related: Lib Dems will seize ‘Blue Wall’ constituencies from Tories, says Sir Ed Davey