Boris Johnson was king of the capital. As a politician who introduced himself as a metropolitan and social liberal, he gave the Conservatives their first control of the London government in 30 years, winning City Hall in 2008.
But now the party is facing one of its toughest election tests in the city, and the prime minister risks revolting from his own ass if Partygate investigations threaten to hit them in the ballot box.
At the Wansworth Tory Leadership Council, voters are considering whether the party’s headline promise to keep the municipal tax is attractive enough during the cost of living crisis to prevent them from staying home or giving Labor a chance.
While Labor was just a few hundred votes ahead of the popular vote in the last council election, the Conservatives still won the largest number of councilors.
Conservatives are campaigning in Wandsworth. Photo: Graham Robertson / Guardian
“It doesn’t matter if we make big profits or even gain overall control over several other areas; if Wandsworth falls, it will be the story of the night, “said a minister who was campaigning in the area.
Ruth, who lives in Battersea and was previously a member of the Conservatives, said that as a lawyer she was deeply unhappy with the Prime Minister’s violation of Covid laws.
“I used to vote for a conservative. But even though it is led by someone I do not consider respectable, I would not vote for them, “she said.
Speaking while being questioned by a Conservative adviser at her home in south-west London, Ruth spoke clearly about the message she wanted to send.
“I thought that the vote for a conservative at the moment would seem to be the approval of the national party, because the media reported that if there are bad results from the local elections for Boris, then people can oppose him, which I want to happen. ”
She acknowledged that she was “very pleased with the way the local party is doing”, but added: “The leader is such an important issue that you just have to change that”.
Margaret, who lives nearby and works as a teacher, is less concerned about Partygate and says she usually votes for a conservative, but this time is hesitant. “I just think there’s so much nonsense with the party at the top,” she said. “It has nothing to do with Partygate, I just don’t think it’s very competent.
“I think he is a little disappointed. I had good hopes when he came in and I just think he really disappeared into the background. You don’t hear anything from him anymore – except when he made a mistake. “
Margaret said she would probably refrain because she was not impressed with Keira Starmer’s work, adding: “I’m a little disappointed right now.”
Lauren, who works for Citizens Advice, said she would usually vote for the Liberal Democrats and was tempted to vote for the Conservatives at the local level, as this is a Labor throw. “It is a challenge in your head to distinguish between the national party,” she said.
Activists pushing the streets are ready for hesitant voters like Ruth, Margaret and Lauren.
“Boris is not on the ballot,” is a common refrain. As well as the argument that even richer residents could not rely on Wandsworth’s lower municipal tax, their more oppressed neighbors could.
But it can still be a difficult sale. In homage to Jeffrey Howe’s criticism of Margaret Thatcher, a Lambeth and Southwark Conservative candidate for WhatsApp complained that it would be “easier if the National Party didn’t break our local bats in the fold.”
A Tory MP also moaned in private: “It’s like Downing Street hates Tory advisers and is figuring out how to have as little as possible.”
Labor reminds voters that only a few hundred votes can do anything different. Photo: Graham Robertson / Guardian
Johnson certainly still has some supporters in London. When a conservative agitator knocked on Peter’s door and asked him if he had any concerns about the party at the national level, he said he did not and that the focus on violating Covid’s rules was “distraction.”
“We are in a proxy war with Russia,” Peter said. “And the prime minister is essentially leading the free world.”
And there are many pressing local issues that affect residents, from recycling to schools, crime and libraries.
One resident, Antonietta, desperately wanted the council and the police to fight the motorcyclists who were driving dangerously fast on the sidewalk in front of her house.
“If you do something about the road, you can have my support, otherwise I will have to vote for someone else,” she said when asked who she would support on May 5.
The challenge for Labor is to remind voters that just a few hundred votes can make the council red.
While the number of volunteers offering to help with campaigning has declined since 2018, when more members were mobilized under Jeremy Corbyn, fewer voters are now said to close their doors when activists arrive.
“I would say it will be incredibly tight. It still seems to be on the brink of a knife, it’s really a 50-50 election, “said Simon Hogg, Labor’s Labor leader.
He said the Conservative campaign is based solely on this one municipal tax issue, while we are comparing it to this municipal tax, but we also have ambitious policies on the environment, housing, crime and education.
Hogg acknowledged that it was “a key issue in the election, whether Labor can be trusted with its money” and understood the concerns, given that Croydon’s Labor-led council was on the verge of bankruptcy.
But he insisted that Labor has a “serious, ambitious, costly manifesto that we will tax fairly” and “spend wisely.” He claims that confidence in the Wansworth Conservatives is declining and that they no longer operate a narrow ship.
Hogg’s insistence that the race seems to be on the edge of a knife is not hyperbole.
Jonathan Carr-West, chief executive of the Local Government Information Unit, said that while studies show that conservatives may lose control of the council, “it is certainly close, both in terms of seats and the majority in the majority.” some places. “
He said: “Given Wansworth’s reputation as a Conservative leader, his loss will be seen as a serious blow to the government and will be directly involved in the conversation about the future of the prime minister.
“At the same time, this would be part of a longer-term trend in which Labor has tightened its grip on inner London.
“Over the last decade, we have seen a growing polarization, with Labor votes concentrated in major cities and universities, and Conservative support spreading to the rest of the country. Wandsworth and Westminster opposed this, but the margins are getting narrower.
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