Having lost nearly 500 seats in last month’s local elections, coming fourth in Wales and a woeful fifth in Scotland and still stubbornly lagging in national polls, Conservatives would be forgiven for feeling despondent about their party’s future.
But to speak to MPs on the Tory benches, the mood is anything but pessimistic.
“Very content,” is how one shadow minister put it last week. “The elections were never going to be great, so we needed to just get through it. Collectively, we are proud of Kemi [Badenoch, the Tory leader]; there is no dissent, and other parties are fighting amongst themselves.
Shorts
“I think we’re all pretty happy. She’s our leader until she’s PM.”
