PM likely to be questioned during Nottingham visit on King’s Fund report that says NHS is ‘more a laggard than a leader’
Some Conservative MPs are cutting the amount of time they spent at Westminster so that they can concentrated on trying to defend their seats, Lucy Fisher reports in a front page story for the Financial Times. She reports:
Conservative MPs defending marginals are able to apply for “slips” — permission to be away from the Commons — for up to one week each month to dedicate more time to campaigning in their home areas, and are being offered special help to try and improve their chances of re-election, several told the Financial Times …
Members with low visibility have been told they “need to raise their local profile more” by acting like “glorified local councillors”, said one MP involved. They have been urged by the party machine to mail out hyperlocal, single-issue leaflets, engage more with local press and attend a higher number of constituency events.
Conservative MPs have also been privately briefed on the predicted electoral meltdown. Franz Luntz, the US pollster and former adviser to Boris Johnson, sounded the alarm last Wednesday during a Q&A with the 1922 Committee of backbenchers.
During his presentation, Luntz asked MPs present to put up their hands if they had majorities of 15,000 or less. “He said, ‘You’re likely gone,’” one attendee said.
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