Conservative Party chairman Greg Hands (center) campaigning in Middlesbrough Photo: Mark Pinder
“What do you think is Rishi doing well? Rishi Sunak? asked Greg Hands, chairman of the Conservative Party, while campaigning on the doorstep of Middlesbrough this week.
“I just got a little bored with the woman, I forgot her name who walked in,” said Jeanette Boyes, who undecided which party to support in next month's local elections, but was not a fan of Liz Truss. “I just lost all faith in all parties, not just the conservatives. I think that if Boris appeared again, I would vote.”
«That won't happen,» Mr. Hands replied. “I think Rishi is doing a great job. But I would say so. I'm the chairman of the party.»
A blond Eton shadow looms behind the Red Wall for the Conservatives.
Historic Labor constituencies, including the Redcar seat now held by 30-year-old local resident Jacob Young , who joined Mr Hands on the cusp, went over to the Tories in 2019 under the leadership of Boris Johnson and his promise to «get Brexit through».
“He was a naughty boy. And I think we're all a little fed up with what's going on and the tedium of the past and stuff like that,” said Ms. Boyce, a nursing home worker, from her porch.
After three and a half years and two conservative prime ministers, the party's popularity is being tested at the polls.
Greg Hands (left) says there is an opportunity for Rishi Sunak to keep Red Wall's gains alive. Photo: Mark Pinder for The Telegraph. to support Red Wall's «five priorities» and plan for an economic recovery.
«I don't think Boris fans are stopping people from being Rishi fans,» said the Conservative chairman, who spent 37 years working his way into the conservative politics to take control of her campaign.
“People we met today who were in awe of Boris also said that they thought Rishi was doing a good job and that Rishi would get their support. People think Rishi is doing a good job of creating a good, old-fashioned, competent conservative government.»
Even the most ardent supporters of Mr. Sunak's administration admit that last year's riots will hurt the Tories this time around.< /p>
“We have something to lose,” Mr. Hands said. “There are a lot of empty seats. It is obvious that last year was very difficult for us both for the party and for the country, therefore, in general, the expectations are disappointing.”
His pessimism is understated. Experts predict that the Conservatives could lose 1,000 of the 8,000 seats up for election on May 4, with the majority going to Sir Keir Starmer's Labor and the Liberal Democrats taking thousands more.
In Redcar and elsewhere northern constituencies, local elections will herald the fate of the Tories in next year's general election.
“The so-called Red Wall is incredibly important to us as a party,” Mr. Hands said. “This is incredibly important for me as party chairman and also for Rishi Sunak as prime minister. It is very, very important for both of us to keep the seats we won in 2019.”
3103 The Conservative councils are most at risk.
John Garbutt, 58, a retired steelworker, recently switched to the Conservatives after voting Labor all his life. Like his neighbor, he voted for Mr. Johnson in 2019 and believes he «managed the situation a little rough.»
But he also has little support for Labor under Sir Care — believing that the party has not yet moved away from its socialist predecessor.
«I think Jeremy Corbyn was the nail in the coffin,» he said. «Keir Starmer has replaced him and he's in talks, but my understanding is that all of these parties need to help each other out of the mess we're in economically.»
«Talking is useless if you don't watch it, but the Conservative Party has done far more in this area in the last 15 years than Labor has done in the last 50.»
Back in Westminster, MPs' time has been consumed by the recent controversy over about Labor's social media ad that accused Mr Sunak of not wanting to jail child sex offenders.
Mr Hands said his party would not follow Labour. in carrying out inflammatory political attacks and that the scandal over Sir Keir's strategy did not «erupt» on the doorstep. “I think it shows that Labor knows that Rishi Sunak is personally very popular, the fact that they personally go after [him],” he said.
It is true that Mr. Sunak’s personal popularity Sunaka is taller than his party, but the latest voting intent polls show the Conservatives are still more than 15 points behind Labour.
Latest voter intention polls show Conservatives still more than 15 points behind Labor: Mark Pinder for The Telegraph
The party's prospects for winning a fourth straight election largely depend on the timing of the vote. Conservative strategists are believed to be considering holding elections next fall in the hope that inflation and illegal crossings of the English Channel can be reduced by then.
Mr. Hands, who will lead the campaign next year, is tense. — remained silent about when this might happen.
“My job is not to necessarily say what time is best, but to be ready when the prime minister decides,” — he said. «I need to be ready at any reasonable time next year for the general election.»
In the meantime, he hopes to spend as much time as possible diving headlong — literally in some cases — into the campaign to convince conservative voters they can still trust his party.
During the campaign the day before in Lancashire, he headbutted a voter's front door, slipping on the wet pavement, and fell to the floor, tearing his trousers in the process.
«The guy did come to the door — I'm not even sure he knocked after all» he recalled. «He said something like, 'Well, that was a little hard, wasn't it?'
» I said, 'I'm sorry, sir, but anyway… I'm Greg Hands, Chairman of the Conservative Party, I have come to get your opinion on what is happening in this area.»
The voter, ignoring the Minister's call for a vote, drew attention to the state of the front door and began to inspect it. With a torch. «He was very obsessed with his door, but we, as you know, supporters of democracy based on property — I take my hat off to him,” said Mr. Hands.
Laughing, the local MP next to his chairman asked, «What number was on the door?»
«I don't know,» said Mr. Hands. «It wasn't number 10.»
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