Nadhim Zahawi has insisted Keir Starmer should be “worried” about his electoral chances – just moments after being shown Labour’s huge polling lead.
The Conservative Party Chairman made the odd claim just days after his party suffered its worst defeat in Chester at a by-election since 1832.
After the result on Friday the polling guru Professor Sir John Curtice said Labour was now in a stronger position that “they have been in the last 10,12 years”.
In recent months the party has enjoyed a massive lead in the polls with the latest YouGov survey showing the Tories 25 points behind Labour.
Asked how concerned he was over the state of the polls, Mr Zahawi told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge programme the country is going through a “difficult” period.
He said the Tories were in “rebuilding mode” to be “ready and fit for purpose” in time for the local elections in May 2023.
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But Mr Zahawi, who founded the YouGov polling firm, added: “If you dig beneath the data, I’d be worried if I were Keir Starmer.
“His [Mr Starmer’s] numbers are very soft,” the Tory Chairman said. “There’s not a great passion for what Keir Starmer’s saying.”
Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Mr Zahawi also blamed the “internal challenges” in the Tory party for the gap in the polls.
Mr Zahawi was also pressed on a growing number of Tory MPs announcing their departure from politics ahead of the next election, including the ex-Chancellor Sajid Javid, who stood for the leadership in the summer.
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He claimed “great candidates” had been approaching Conservative central office offering to stand at the next election.
“MPs will make decisions about what they do,” he added. “We’ve asked all MPs to indicate by Monday what they plan to do, whether they stand again”.
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But Mr Zahawi’s comments also came after senior Tory MP Sir Charles Walker said on Friday that it is “almost impossible” for his party to win the next general election.
He warned that the Tories will “pay the price” for “playing” with people’s finances after Liz Truss trashed the economy with her tax-slashing mini Budget.
Asked about the state of the party, he told Times Radio on Friday: “It’s almost impossible to see us coming back from this.
“I suspect we will lose the next general election “.
Sir Charles added: “Now what I hope Rishi Sunak does is make sure Labour doesn’t wipe the floor with us, so that we perhaps win 220 seats, and we form a viable opposition, which was not the case in 1997, when we went down to having 165 Members of Parliament”.