The Tory big beasts tipped to lose their seats

Michael Gove, Jeremy Hunt and Suella Braverman are among Tory big beasts at risk losing their seats later this year, an analysis of the local election results has found.

The Surrey constituencies of Mr Gove, the Levelling Up Secretary, and Mr Hunt, the Chancellor, are under threat, according to research by the Liberal Democrats.

The analysis also marks Alex Chalk, the Justice Secretary and MP for Cheltenham, and Sir John Redwood, the MP for Wokingham who was Margaret Thatcher’s policy adviser, as in danger.

In the Surrey police and crime commissioner elections, the Tory candidate won but the Lib Dem vote share rose by 10 per cent – which the party says “serves as a warning” to Mr Gove and Mr Hunt.

The Conservatives lost four councillors in Reigate and Banstead, which had been the last of Surrey’s district and borough councils left in Tory control until it too fell in March.

Meanwhile, the party lost all five of its council seats at Cheltenham Borough Council, with four going to the Lib Dems and one to the Green Party.

The Lib Dems said they made unexpected progress in Mrs Braverman’s Hampshire council of Fareham, gaining four councillors. The Conservatives retained overall control but lost five of their seats, with four going to the Lib Dems and one to Labour.

The Lib Dems won 20 of 33 councillors in Sir John Redwood’s Wokingham constituency, and the Conservatives no longer have any.

A Lib Dem source said the analysis showed “time is up” for the “Tory big beasts”, adding: “We are going to redouble our efforts to oust senior Conservative MPs who have taken their seats for granted.

“The Home Counties are turning their backs on a Conservative party they no longer recognise. The Liberal Democrats are flipping the electoral map on its head.”

Mr Gove has spent more than a decade at the heart of British politics, while Mr Hunt has spent nine uninterrupted years in the Cabinet, including six as Britain’s longest-serving health secretary.