Billionaire Tory donor John Caudwell attacks Boris Johnson’s ‘mistakes and faux pas’ and fears PM ‘won’t survive’ Partygate and sleaze fiasco as Labour storms into EIGHT-POINT lead over Conservatives
- Phones4U boss John Caudwell says he may pull support for Conservative Party
- It comes as shock poll suggest Boris Johnson would lose his Parliamentary seat
- Poll conducted by Focaldata for Sunday Times spoke to almost 25,000 people
- It predicted Labour would win back 50 seats from Tories in northern heartlands
- Labour are projected to be eight points ahead and would win a 26-seat majority
A billionaire donor to the Conservative Party has announced he is thinking of withdrawing support as the party becomes mired in sleaze and scandal.
Phones4U founder John Caudwell handed the Tories £500,000 before the last election in 2019 but says he is deeply disappointed by the ‘mistakes and faux pas’ under Boris Johnson’s leadership.
It comes amid a shock poll which suggests Labour is eight points ahead of the Conservatives following a bruising few weeks for Boris Johnson, while Tory backbenchers are openly discussing contenders to be their next leader.
‘What really concerns me is this sleaze issue and him not standing firmly enough against what’s gone on,’ Mr Caudwell told the Observer.
‘I was unbelievably disappointed when I heard him almost defending and … trying to find an out for Owen Paterson. [However] I like him as a charismatic leader. It’s a very, very positive thing to have somebody who feels down to earth, so I like Boris from that point of view.
‘I’m not sure he can survive this, and I’m not even sure he should survive it.
Billionaire donor to the Conservative Party and founder of Phones4U John Caudwell says he is deeply disappointed by the ‘mistakes and faux pas’ under Boris Johnson’s leadership
‘If he cleaned his act up and made it clear to MPs that they cannot take money from other sources, and started trying to get the government on a very ethical, whiter-than-white basis, I guess I would still support him. But I suppose the question you’ve really got to answer is, is it in his character to do so?’
‘Whoever can rule this country properly, in my view, I will vote for. I’m not a dyed-in-the-wool Conservative that will stay Conservative.
‘I will vote for anybody that I believe has got the right set of principles to keep Britain great. The Conservative party can’t take my support for granted.’
If current polling projections were realised, the PM would lose his seat in Uxbridge & South Ruislip, which would make him the first sitting prime minister to be ejected from Parliament.
According to the poll, Boris Johnson (pictured) would lose his seat in Uxbridge & South Ruislip, which would make him the first sitting prime minister to be ejected from Parliament
The survey, commissioned by the Sunday Times, spoke to almost 25,000 people across all constituencies over a three-week period from December 1. It suggested Sir Keir Starmer would win a general election with a 26-seat majority.
The polling began amid the height of the Tory sleaze scandal and ended just after it was revealed that there may have been illegal parties held in Downing Street last December, when the country was under strict Covid restrictions.
The so-called Partygate fiasco has only worsened in recent weeks, compounded by a photo of the PM seemingly drinking wine with his wife Carrie Johnson and colleagues in the Downing Street garden in May 2020, allegedly breaking Covid rules at the time – although No.10 claimed it was a work meeting, insisting no rules were broken.
The survey, commissioned by the Sunday Times, spoke to almost 25,000 people across all constituencies. The survey, taken over a three-week period from December 1, suggested Sir Keir Starmer would win a general election with a 26-seat majority
Meanwhile the PM also suffered a damaging backbench rebellion and a by-election thumping from the Liberal Democrats in North Shropshire – a seat the Tories had held for nearly 200 years.
The findings of the Focaldata poll show the Conservatives have suffered as a result, with five other cabinet ministers hypothetically losing their seats, including Alok Sharma, the Cop26 president, and George Eustice, the environment secretary.
Mr Johnson stormed to victory at the 2019 general election by picking up 365 seats for the Conservatives, against Labour’s 202.
But if an election were held tomorrow, the latest poll suggests Sir Keir’s party would pick up 338 seats, while the Tories would be left with 237 – representing the lowest haul since Michael Howard’s failed bid to lead a Conservative victory against Tony Blair in 2005.
It means Labour would win 40 per cent of the vote and the Conservatives 32 per cent. In 2019, the Tories won 43.6 per cent and Labour 32.1 per cent.
Justin Ibbett, chief executive of Focaldata, told the Sunday Times: ‘Boris Johnson has overseen a seismic drop in Conservative Party support across all sections of society. It compares to 1997, when Blair took power.
The survey, taken over a three-week period from December 1, suggested Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour (pictured) would win a general election with a 26-seat majority
‘The big difference now is that Starmer isn’t seen as a leader-in-waiting.
‘Indeed, that Labour performs so well in this MRP poll is more due to Conservative collapse than a resurgent Labour.’
The reversal would come partly from the old Labour heartlands which turned Tory to ‘get Brexit done’ turning back red, the data suggests.
In Scotland, the Scottish National Party (SNP) would win 48 out of the 59 seats, according to the poll, in what would be a show of confidence in First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s leadership.
And despite enjoying their shock North Shropshire gain from the Conservatives this month, as well as Chesham & Amersham in June, the Lib Dems, led by Sir Ed Davey, would fail to make any inroads on the so-called blue wall, picking up 11 seats, the exact same number as in 2019.
The poll suggests Labour’s forecast win would stem from taking back all 50 seats in the north of England, Midlands and Wales which turned blue in 2019.
It would also gain another 10 seats from the Tories in London, including Sir Ian Duncan Smith’s seat in Chingford & Woodford Green, and Kensington.
Some 63 seats outside the capital would also go to Labour, including Reading, Milton Keynes, Northampton, Stevenage and High Wycombe, as would 27 of Wales’ 40 seats.
The extensive survey used the MRP (multilevel regression and post-stratification) method, a statistical technique that produces predictions based on small geographic areas. It is believed to be more accurate than conventional polling.
Justin Ibbett, chief executive of Focaldata, said: ‘Boris Johnson has overseen a seismic drop in Conservative Party support across all sections of society. It compares to 1997, when Blair took power.
‘The big difference now is that Starmer isn’t seen as a leader-in-waiting.
‘Indeed, that Labour performs so well in this MRP poll is more due to Conservative collapse than a resurgent Labour.’
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