The escape to Labor Party of the deputy and former undersecretary of Health Dan Poulter has aggravated the crisis of tories in full countdown to the local elections of May 2 in which the Conservative Party Rishi Sunak could lose half of his councillors.
“The Conservatives have become the nationalist party of the right,” Poulter told The Observer at the time of making public his notorious escape to the Labor ranks. “The values we had in David Cameron’s time were very different.”
Poulter, 45 years old and a doctor by profession, has also assured that the deterioration of the National Health System (NHS) under the last governments tories has prevented him from “being able to look face to face with my professional colleagues.” “Public health is no longer one of the priorities,” argues the deputy, who admits that he has been considering his move to the opposition party for several months.
The fleeing deputy assured that the brief mandate of Liz Truss, the premier of the 45 days, it was “a devastating moment” for all moderates in the party. “It is very difficult to forget that a large part of our voters are poorer as a result of the errors of Truss con la economy,” declares Poulter.
“It is fantastic to be able to welcome Dr. and Deputy Dan Poulter,” he wrote in his account on X the labor leader Keir Starmer. “The time has come to end the Tory chaos, turn the page and take back the future of the UK. I am so grateful to Dan for joining us on this journey.”
Poulter’s escape occurs in a critical moment for Rishi Sunakwho faces a possible electoral debacle on May 2 in the elections in a hundred municipalities in England and Wales. The polls predict that The Conservative Party could lose half of its councilors at the hands of the Labor Party and Reform UKthe force created by the founder of UKIP Nigel Faragewhich is gaining support on the right.
Most polls give an advantage of more than 20 points to the Labor Party ahead of the general elections that will surely be called in the second half of the year. The recent YouGov projection predicts that the Conservative Party could fall from the current 365 MPs to 169, while the Labor Party could double its seats and exceed 400.
The alarms have rung again in Downing Streetamid speculation about a possible early call for general elections this summer, precisely with the intention of averting a possible motion of no confidence against Rishi Sunak and a new leadership contest tory.
“He premier “may come to think that if the situation is desperate and is not going to improve, it may be time to call elections (in the summer),” Conservative Party sources declared to The Observer. “That could serve as discipline for his colleagues. Obviously, some will want elections now, but the vast majority don’t.”
Sunak is fundamentally confident that he will be able to make it at least until October, when it will be two years since his arrival at Downing Street, with the hope for an economic recovery and the launch of flights to Rwanda with immigrants deported to contain the avalanche of crossings of the English Channel.