David Vance SubstackRead More
Don’t you wish that politicians could try honesty as a strategy? Yesterday saw Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch tour the TV studios dismissing the scale of losses incurred at the May 7th elections! According to her, the Conservatives are on the way back! But this is to deny reality and you can see the incredulity that Trevor Philips felt when she tried this on with him!
Just to summarise the actual facts!
In the English local elections, the party ended with 801 councillors, a net loss of 563 seats across 136 English councils. They also lost control of six councils. At devolved level, the Conservatives have been reduced to a minor party.
In the 2026 Welsh Senedd election they won just 7 of 96 seats, down sharply on the 16 they held in the old 60‑member chamber. They are now a distant fourth behind Plaid Cymru, Reform UK and Labour, with no realistic route back to government in Cardiff Bay in the near term.
In Scotland’s Holyrood election, the party’s representation fell to 12 MSPs, down from 31 in 2021 – their worst Scottish Parliament result of the devolution era. They have slipped from main opposition to a smaller force behind the SNP, Labour, Reform and the Greens in vote share terms.
In short, there is no evidence that the Conservatives are on the way back as she claims. So WHY does she do this?
