Labour voters should throw their weight behind the Liberal Democrat candidate in the North Shropshire by-election in order to oust the Tories, according to Guardian analysis.
Owen Paterson won the seat with 62.7 per cent of the vote in 2019, but following a series of scandals in parliament an upset could be on the cards.
The Conservatives were beset by a string of controversies in November, with the Paterson affair shining a light on how much time and money MPs raise from second jobs and second home arrangements.
Polling now shows that the Tories are on track to lose 77 seats in the next election, and could even lose a few before then if voters band together.
According to an opinion piece in the Guardian, a Lib Dem win in a Leave-voting rural constituency would be a “bigger earthquake” than when the party won a stunning victory in the Buckinghamshire by-election in June
“Even if the Lib Dems came close, the result would send a shiver up the spine of Tory MPs. That is why North Shropshire’s Labour voters ought to set aside their tribal loyalty and back the Lib Dem candidate.”
Yesterday a councillor and deputy mayor in North Shropshire defected from the Conservatives ten days before a crunch by-election in the seat.
Mark Whittle, deputy mayor of Market Drayton, joined Reform UK in what he said was “the most difficult decision I have ever made”.
Whittle said he joined the party, which was previously the Brexit Party, after meeting the Tory candidate in the race, Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst.
Whittle said he could not “possibly back a candidate from Birmingham who has zero knowledge of North Shropshire and the challenges our community faces”.
Related: Tories on track to lose 77 seats in next election – Electoral Calculus
