The Conservative Party is struggling to recruit enough candidates for the May local elections amid fears of a comprehensive rout.
According to reports in the i, even the traditional Tory shires have struggled to get enough people to run, with people ‘just not coming forward’.
New polling has put Labour 26 points ahead of the Conservatives on a national level, the highest gap recorded by Redfield & Wilton Strategies since Rishi Sunak became prime minister.
The damage to the Tory brand seems to be bearing out at a local level too, with one ex-Cabinet minister saying recruitment was proving so difficult that “we could go into the biggest local elections since 2019 not even fielding a full slate of candidates”.
A source from Kent told the i: “They’re just asking former or retired councillors to fill the slots. It’s not very appealing to stand in an election where it’s going to be loads of losses.
“And the doorsteps won’t be fun.”
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