A string of recent policy successes have persuaded disillusioned Tory voters to begin cautiously trusting the Conservatives again
In addition to the narrowing polls, some polls put Sunak ahead of Starmer in the “best PM” question, which has historically been a better indicator of election outcomes than party voting intention. Sunak personally far outpolls the still-battered Conservatives, while Starmer’s own ratings are a drag on newly rehabilitated Labour.
A string of recent policy successes have persuaded disillusioned Tory voters to begin cautiously trusting the Conservatives again, and Sunak’s party management has outperformed expectations. (This has been credited by some to Sunak’s appointment of former Spectator journalist James Forsyth as his political secretary. Forsyth is a close friend and former schoolmate of Sunak who has the ear of many Tory MPs from his days as a hack.)
These victories have highlighted Labour’s own paucity of policies. Vacillating between his party’s leftward ambitions and voters’ desires for centrism, Keir Starmer has kept shtum about his political principles and intentions. To the frustration of Labour MPs, the vacuum is being filled by a newly competent Conservative administration, and some privately grumble that Starmer has squandered Labour’s huge poll lead.
“Let me be clear — our border is not open, and it will not be open after May 11,” was the very un-liberal warning from Biden’s Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
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