Defeat and defection: Tories are down bad

The longer the Conservatives hang on, the worse it gets. Last week Rishi Sunak lost 474 councillors, the constituency of Blackpool south, and Andy Street’s West Midlands mayoral. And yesterday things went from bad to worse for Sunak with a surprise defection to Labour from Natalie Elphicke MP for Dover and Deal.The Conservatives can’t seem to escape this endless decline in support and popularity. So when did it all start to go wrong, and can they stop the train before it completely derails?Freddie Hayward, political correspondent, is joined in the studio by Rachel Cunliffe, associate political editor, and George Eaton, senior editor.Read: The Tory doomscrollLISTEN AD-FREE:📱Download the New Statesman appMORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN:❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.