The Conservative Party has been mocked after a dire set of local election results reached a benchmark.
At around 7.30pm on Friday, the Conservatives had lost more than 1,000 council seats in England – and rising – with some authorities still to declare.
For the last month, Tory party chairman Greg Hands has been telling anyone who will listen they were on course to lose 1,000 councillors.
But it doesn’t take a seasoned political watcher to know this is “expectation management” – a device used by all political parties during campaigning.
The idea is to set out the worst case scenario, so when it’s not so bad you have a positive story to tell. In short, the Conservatives really didn’t think the May 4 ballots would be this bad.
A Lib Dem spokesperson said: “Rishi Sunak has delivered three things in the past 24 hours – pizza, bacon sandwiches and 1,000 seats lost for the Tories.”
Labour frontbencher Wes Streeting said: “I take it all back Greg Hands – I thought losing 1,000 Conservative councillors was a cynical expectation management exercise, not an ambition. What is the point of Rishi Sunak?”
Twitter was enjoying the show too – with the refresh button getting a hammering.
Rishi Sunak remained defiant despite heavy losses, with both Labour and the Lib Dems seizing control of Tory councils across England.
Keir Starmer’s party was projected to have won a nine-point lead over the Conservatives if all of Britain had gone to the polls, as the Tories slid backwards.
Labour seized councils in Tory MPs’ seats that would be hotly contested at a general election – including in Swindon, Medway, Dover and East Staffordshire.
Sunak conceded the results were “disappointing”, but said he was “not detecting any massive groundswell of movement towards the Labour Party or excitement for its agenda”.
But the Tories will be concerned by Labour wins in the North, South and Midlands and a resurgent Lib Dems, as the prospect of a general election in 2024 looms.