Sunday 8 May 2022 09:02 AM Furious Tories demand tax cuts after disastrous local elections trends now
Boris Johnson is betting on the Red Wall to get his premiership on track after disastrous local elections with Levelling Up and Brexit set to dominate the Queen's Speech this week.
The PM suffered a body blow as the Tories lost hundreds of councillors, with a bloodbath in London and the Lib Dems making gains in traditional heartlands.
Conservatives - including a serving minister - have renewed calls for the government to cut taxes in the wake of the meltdown and with the cost-of-living crisis ramping up.
However, the immediate coup threat to Mr Johnson seems to have receded, partly because Labour failed to make inroads into the Northern and Midlands areas that delivered his historic majority in 2019.
The premier - who was heavily damaged by the Partygate row - has also been helped by police announcing they are investigating whether Keir Starmer breached lockdown rules over the so-called Beergate espisode.
Mr Johnson is hoping to shift the agenda when the new session of Parliament starts on Tuesday, promising a 'super seven' of Brexit Bills to slash red tape and 'unnecessary barriers inherited from the EU'.
There will also be a focus on Levelling Up, with plans to revive England's high streets by giving councils powers to take control of buildings for the benefit of their communities.
Boris Johnson suffered a body blow as the Tories lost hundreds of councillors, with a bloodbath in London and the Lib Dems making gains in traditional heartlands
A projected vote share by Rallings & Thrasher for the Sunday Times found that Labour was on 35 per cent after the elections, with the Tories on 33 per cent and the Lib Dems on 17 per cent
Former Cabinet minister Damian Green told the Sunday Telegraph that the Tories must 'rediscover the virtues that appeal to natural Conservatives in strong Conservative areas', including by reducing the tax burden.
Another ex-minister John Redwood said recessions could see governments 'swept from office' and urged Chancellor Rishi Sunak to reverse the National Insurance rise and suspend VAT on domestic fuel bills.
Policing minister Kit Malthouse reportedly said that he 'sincerely hopes' Mr Sunak will introduce tax cuts 'shortly'.
A projected vote share by Rallings & Thrasher for the Sunday Times found that Labour was on 35 per cent after the elections, with the Tories on 33 per cent and the Lib Dems on 17 per cent.
According to the Electoral Calculus website, based on prospective new boundaries that would leave the Conservatives still the largest party at a general election - but 15 seats short of a majority.
Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove suggested that a decline in home ownership may have contributed to the party's troubles in London, where flagship authorities in Wandsworth and Westminster fell to Labour after decades of Tory control.
He told the Sunday Telegraph: 'There is a particular challenge for us in London and I think that challenge in London relates to … home ownership.
'There are other factors. But I think that for young people in London, there is a responsibility on the incumbent government to address some of the factors that have made it more difficult for them to own their own home.
'That's one lesson that I would draw at this stage. The other one is that the Labour Party doesn't seem to have made anything like the progress outside of London, that you would expect an opposition to do if it was on course for victory.'
Heralding the Queen's Speech measures,
