A wild set of briefings reached Guido a few weeks back making the mischievous suggestion that the Tories – facing certain electoral wipeout – had made a conscious strategic decision to ‘tack to the centre’ and abandon the coalition of non-university educated voters that propelled them to victory in 2019. Now multiple Tory sources say yesterday’s reshuffle bears that out…
‘Tacking to the centre’ is Westminster la la land speak and has no real world relevance to voters (‘left / right / centre’ is a political nerd invention, not a paradigm for how voters think). But if the Tories have decided they are only interested in prioritising the votes of a reducing number of ‘wet Tory’ seats mainly in the south of England, they are signing their own death warrant…
One problem is the LibDems, who remain competitive in most ‘centrist’ Tory territories. Tories at risk from the yellow peril say, so far, LOTO has had nothing to say about the LibDems whatsoever…
Then there’s the vibe shift on the right – a phenomenon the Tories have almost entirely failed to grasp so far. This cuts across both policy and campaigning style. Concern with immigration is the number one salient issue with every segmentation of voters, regardless of social class or education. The party’s lack of decisiveness on leaving the ECHR is costing it dearly with Tory to Reform switchers…
In reality, little is known about the direction that the new LOTO will actually take. If it’s a ‘tack to the centre’ it’s likely the outcome will be way off where any kind of target voters are, and certainly not the way to rebuild a broad governing coalition…
There was plenty of hand-wringing at the weekend over Nigel Farage’s interview with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg when he was questioned about Scarborough Town Council increasing Reform mayor Thomas Murray’s allowance by 600% from £500 to £3,500. Legacy media much enjoyed the fact Farage repeated “I have no idea” six times in response to the claim. Probably because it’s not true…
Last year the Charter Mayor (before Scarborough Town Council was founded) had an allowance of £1,000 – not £500 – and this was paid to him as a wage. Included in the Council’s new budget is an expenses allowance of £3500 for Reform’s Mayor. So not as a wage…
That would mean the allowance increase for Reform’s mayor would be 250%. Once Yusuf’s Reform DOGE Unit gets to Scarborough it may have a view on that hike either way…
Guido can reveal Green Party activists were instructed not to tell swathes of voters whom they encounter that they will need ID to vote in a general election. A chilling attempt to undermine democratic standards…
Internal party documents uploaded to the internet – and revealed in Guido’s GREEN FILES project – include guidance to activists. One relates to what to do now that voter ID legislation is in place, which it has been since May 2023. Activists are instructed only to inform “Green voters (1’s and 2’s) that Photo ID will be needed this election.” They are also told to increase postal voting among Greens and instructing those same likely supporters in a letter and in their canvassing script that they will need ID. Activists are also given a list of “Dont’s”…
Those are:
With the moral dubiousness in mind the Green executive hilariously includes a convoluted justification for this titled: “Isn’t it anti democratic not to tell everyone about this change?“:
“Campaigning against voter ID in a local campaign isn’t going to change the legislation. But when we win more local elections, our party policies get heard more on the national stage. The best way to fight against this is therefore to make sure we win, not to try and run an awareness campaign in a local ward (others will do that anyway).”
The national party of course campaigned stridently against the legislation on vaunted woke grounds. Not past a bit of classic electoral skullduggery…
Labour today announced a big “crackdown” on migrants working illegally for delivery apps like Deliveroo and Just Eat with the Home Office sharing the location of asylum hotels with these companies. The plans are already falling flat…
As of March 2025, there were 106,771 people asylum seekers in the UK. Just 32,345 are in hotels. Meaning 74,426 asylum seekers’ locations won’t be shared with delivery apps at all. So much for a “comprehensive” crackdown…
Meanwhile, one of the biggest reasons illegals are riding for these apps is account sharing – where one verified user rents out or sells their login to a whole network of illegal workers. Labour could ban account sharing tomorrow if they wanted to. Immigration partner at law firm Freeths Emma Brooksbank added:
“Today’s announcement is expected to be ineffective. It will not be difficult for illegal workers to bypass this restriction and avoid detection, thereby making the agreed data sharing pointless.”
Going as well as Labour’s promise to ‘smash the gangs’ then…
Essex Police are holding a press conference amid protests in Epping over migrant-related crime. It follows reports that the force escorted pro-migrant demonstrators to last week’s protest…
The UK DOGE FoI Unit has discovered that DESNZ is spending on online advertising – including influencer marketing – at a high rate. Someone has to promote those dodgy heat pumps…
In the last 12 months the energy department has spent a total of £168,576.98 on social media promotions, and a total of £1,194,402.78 on online advertising. They say this “may be inclusive of influencer activities procured via media buying”…
The department is ludicrously blocking the exact amount spent on influencer marketing because they claim the info would “harm the DESNZ’ business reputation and weaken the DESNZ’ position in a competitive environment.” Miliband’s team don’t want the public to know how much taxpayer cash is going on fashion models to pose with heat pumps in castles…
The taxpayer may have a view on where their cash should go instead. UK DOGE recommends costs are cut here…
Starmer loyalist and Housing Secretary Steve Reed told Sky News that Starmer should not be replaced:
“We saw what the Tories did. They were in power for 14 years, and after 2016, I think we had nine education secretaries, seven chancellors, and five Prime Ministers. Doomscrolling through Prime Ministers doesn’t resolve the problem.”