The Conservative on-the-ground election campaign is descending into “disarray” amid a chronic lack of volunteers and strategy and an increasing sense of panic in formerly ultra-safe seats, insiders and opponents have told the Guardian.
Some areas have struggled to muster people to knock on doors and deliver leaflets due to a combination of a shrinking and ageing membership, a calamitous fall in the number of Conservative councillors and disillusionment with the election campaign.
Instead the party has become heavily reliant on using paid-for delivery to send out large numbers of election leaflets that are often nationally focused and less relevant to local issues.
One factor that might save some Tory MPs is the fact that in constituencies Labour and the Lib Dems had previously assumed were unwinnable, people who want to vote tactically are unsure who is the main contender.
In some areas the Conservatives are trying to frame this to their advantage, putting out leaflets, for example, saying Labour is their primary opponent when it is the Lib Dems who have the better chance of unseating them.
“The MP here has never had to work very hard to win votes and it shows,” one Lib Dem candidate in a prosperous English heartland constituency said.
The original article contains 712 words, the summary contains 205 words. Saved 71%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The Conservative on-the-ground election campaign is descending into “disarray” amid a chronic lack of volunteers and strategy and an increasing sense of panic in formerly ultra-safe seats, insiders and opponents have told the Guardian.
Some areas have struggled to muster people to knock on doors and deliver leaflets due to a combination of a shrinking and ageing membership, a calamitous fall in the number of Conservative councillors and disillusionment with the election campaign.
Instead the party has become heavily reliant on using paid-for delivery to send out large numbers of election leaflets that are often nationally focused and less relevant to local issues.
One factor that might save some Tory MPs is the fact that in constituencies Labour and the Lib Dems had previously assumed were unwinnable, people who want to vote tactically are unsure who is the main contender.
In some areas the Conservatives are trying to frame this to their advantage, putting out leaflets, for example, saying Labour is their primary opponent when it is the Lib Dems who have the better chance of unseating them.
“The MP here has never had to work very hard to win votes and it shows,” one Lib Dem candidate in a prosperous English heartland constituency said.
The original article contains 712 words, the summary contains 205 words. Saved 71%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!