KEMI Badenoch was last night warned the Tories are in a “very dangerous place”;; after plunging to FOURTH in the polls.
The Conservatives recorded their lowest ever voter score at 16 per cent – behind even the Lib Dems on 17 per cent.
Nigel to 29 per cent, opening up a seven-point gap on Labour’s 22 per cent in the YouGov survey.
Senior Tories last night insisted they were not yet in panic-mode but urged to crack the whip on under-performing frontbenchers.
One shadow minister told The Sun: “It’s very early days and we’re a long way from the election, so it’ll take time to win back the public’s trust.
“Most people are generally calm, but lots are rankled about certain not pulling their weight. Some are playing a blinder, but others are not.”;;
A shadow cabinet minister added: “MPs have been more stoic than I thought, there is a feeling that there will be bad polls before there are better polls.”;;
Pollsters warned that collapse even more as voters angry with Sir Keir Starmer increasingly see Mr Farage as the best bet to replace him.
Merlin Strategy’s Scarlett Maguire said: “Being in fourth place is very dangerous for the Conservatives.
“Their support could spiral downwards as many of their voters who like or don’t mind Farage switch to Reform, and those that can’t stand him go to Lib Dems.”;;
Ms Badenoch did not address the dire poll at her weekly shadow cabinet meeting yesterday – instead telling her top team to focus on policies with “freedom and opportunity themes”;;.
Senior Tories were also told to stop using outdated Thatcherite terms like “sound money”;; to explain their positions – instead modernising their language to “living within our means”;;.
While there are some backbench grumblings with Ms Badenoch’s failure to revive Tory fortunes, she is safe from a leadership challenge until November.
Despite losing 674 councillors in this month’s local elections, she has pleaded for more time to turn the party around.
