DAILY MAIL COMMENT: A thumping, but PM must keep up the fight trends now

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There's no sugar-coating it. The local election results were a painful and profoundly dispiriting experience for the Conservatives. They expected a thumping, and they most certainly got one.

More than 400 councillors unseated, control of eight authorities lost and a near-record drubbing in the Blackpool South by-election showed the Himalayan scale of the mountain they must climb to avoid being wiped out in the general election.

Yes, there were crumbs of comfort. The hugely impressive Ben Houchen retained the Tees Valley mayoralty, and Labour failed to win Harlow council in Essex, contrary to expectations.

But these victories had a distinctly pyrrhic feel. The overall message was that the Tories remain firmly in the electoral doghouse.

How quickly their fortunes have evaporated since the euphoria of Boris Johnson's 2019 landslide and strong showing in local elections just three years ago thanks to the Covid vaccine miracle.

Tory MPs have no-one to blame but themselves. Instead of buckling down and rewarding the public's faith, they have been obsessed with factionalism and conspiracy.

The disastrous decision to depose Mr Johnson, their biggest electoral asset, was followed by the brief rise and chaotic fall of Liz Truss. It was like some grotesque farce.

Rishi Sunak has since done an admirable job of steadying the ship, but he too has been constantly undermined by a fifth column of his own

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