Tories mocked after everyone missed their election campaign launch

Following this morning’s Lib Dem local election campaign launch, The Daily Express asked the Conservative Party when its local election launch could be expected, only to be informed it had taken place last week. The news came as a surprise to both main opposition parties.

The Conservative party source referred The Daily Express to local news outlet The Express and Star, which wrote a 100-word article on Rishi Sunak’s visit to the Black Country Living Museum “to launch Conservative local election campaign”.

Mr Sunak made the visit five days ago, which was described as “whistle-stop”.

The PM vowed his party would “fight for every vote”, though admitted it will be a challenging election for his party.

“Obviously, it’s always challenging for a party that’s been in power for a long time but we’re gonna fight really hard for every single seat everywhere, particularly in the West Midlands, and I think we’ve got a really positive story to tell.”

The news surprised the Labour Party and Liberal Democrats, however, whose own local election launches – the former’s taking place tomorrow – grabbed much greater media attention.

A Labour source joked: “Rishi Sunak’s phantom election launch is the perfect metaphor for a Tory government that after 13 years is out of ideas, out of touch and out of time.

“Contrast that to Labour yet again leading the way with fully funded plans to help families with the cost of living.”

A Lib Dem source said: “While Ed Davey smashes through blue hay bales and puts the Conservative Government on notice, Rishi Sunak with a whisper announces the Conservative’s local election launch, I think you can tell who’s up for the fight this time round.”

“Sunak is going to have to do a lot more than quietly shuffle round the Midlands to tackle the open revolt in Conservative seats up and down the country.”

Outlets like the Guardian referenced Mr Sunak’s visit to the Black Country, though failed to realise it was a formal campaign launch event.

Comparisons were also drawn with Theresa May’s glum election campaign launch ahead of the 2019 EU elections, in which the party ended up with 8.8 percent of the vote.

Ahead of Mrs May’s depressed event, her official spokesman prompted laughter when suggesting the party may not hold an event at all.

Rishi Sunak held the event at the Black Country Living Museum, a 26-acre open-air museum showing the West Midlands off as it used to look 300 years ago.

The Tories have also been criticised recently for excluding the media from other events, including their recent Sprint Conference in Birmingham.

The press was barred from the venue, with the party arguing it was an “internal event closed to media”.

Don’t miss…
Tory MP Julian Knight cleared by police after sexual assault claims [LATEST]
Priti Patel fumes over Dominic Raab people smugglers jail claim [LATEST]
Hunt reignites war with Truss as former PM attacks his tax hikes [LATEST]

The Tories face a hard time at the local elections, with the party still double-digit points behind Labour.

Polling guru Professor Sir John Curtice says tactical voting this year could see even worse results for the Tories than expected.

Analysis by Electoral Calculus predicts Labour could gain majority control of 16 councils, including many in the midlands such as Derby, Mansfield and Stoke-on-Trent.

The Tories hold 3,370 of the 8,000 council seats up for grabs this year.

This year’s local elections will be the first with compulsory photo ID for all voters.

Source: Read Full Article