Polling expert Sir John Curtice has said the Tories are suffering from a second bout of ‘long Boris’ after a bruising night in the by-elections.
Rishi Sunak has insisted the next general election is not a “done deal” after losing two safe Tory seats but narrowly holding on to Boris Johnson’s old constituency in three by-elections.
Labour won in Selby and Ainsty and the Liberal Democrats in Somerton and Frome, both overturning majorities of about 20,000 in what polling experts said spelled “deep electoral trouble” for the Tories.
But the Prime Minister was not changing his approach, vowing to “double down” on his existing policies to win over the public as he seized on a slender victory in Uxbridge and South Ruislip.
Speaking on the BBC, Curtice said after catching ‘long Boris’, the Tories have relapsed over the “collective failure of the Conservative Party to distance itself” from the former prime minister.
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