Senior Tories demand immediate tax cuts to save the party after local elections mauling

SENIOR Tories are demanding immediate tax cuts to save the party after last week’s local elections mauling.

They called on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to act “within days” to help kickstart his fightback against Labour in time for next year’s general election.

EPA

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Tory MP John Redwood told the Sun on Sunday: ‘The Prime Minister should announce tax cuts on Tuesday — straight after the Coronation bank holiday’[/caption]

The Conservatives lost more than 1,000 seats including crunch battleground councils in parts of the Red Wall.

Tory MP John Redwood told the Sun on Sunday: “The Prime Minister should announce tax cuts on Tuesday — straight after the Coronation bank holiday.

“He has got to get on with it. He has got to cut taxes and promote growth.”

An ex-Cabinet minister said: “On the doorstep people are clear they want a Conservative party that is a tax-cutting, growth-getting freedom-loving party.

“They want us to stand up for our core values.”

MP Justin Tomlinson, in the key battleground of Swindon where the council went from Tory to Labour, said the slew of defeats must be a “wake-up call”.

He added: “There is no goodwill in the tank from voters. We have got to give people positive reasons to vote Conservative.”

Another Tory MP said: “We need to revert to the Conservative brand and that means tax cuts and building more housing.”

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The Tories took a Town Hall pasting, with more than 1,000 councillors losing their seats[/caption]

And one Conservative MP moaned: “I am gone at the next election. I got no help from Tory HQ. It feels like I was left to the wolves. Our only chance is to prevent Labour getting an outright majority and hold them to a hung Parliament.”

With just one council of 230 left to declare, Tories lost 1,058 seats — more than their direst predictions — Labour gained 536 — good but not dazzling — and the Lib Dems had a great night, picking up 405.

Labour made big gains in crunch councils Medway in Kent, Swindon and Stoke-on-Trent, which turned Tory in 2019.

But the party failed to deliver the knockout blow leader Sir Keir Starmer was hoping for.

Polling guru Sir John Curtice said if replicated in a 2024 general election, Labour would get 312 seats — short of the 326 needed for an outright majority.

It means Labour could be propped up in No 10 by the Lib Dems and SNP.

Tories warned Sir Keir would then have to promise a second referendum on Scottish independence.

SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said: “It’s increasingly clear the SNP can hold the balance of power after the election.”