Conservatives on brink of big loss in royal town once the heart of Tory Britain (2024)

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For the last 114 years the Kent town of Tunbridge Wells has returned a Tory MP to Parliament, often with thumping majorities that earned it the reputation as one of the UK’s safest blue seats

Conservatives on brink of big loss in royal town once the heart of Tory Britain (1)

Tunbridge Wells is famous for being one of just three ‘Royal’ towns in the country, as a home of swanky private schools and the “Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells ” stereotype.

For the last 114 years the Kent town has returned a Tory MP to Parliament, often with thumping majorities that earned it the reputation as one of the UK’s safest blue seats.

But even this Conservative bastion could tumble when voters go to the polls on Thursday.

Electoral Calculus pollsters give Conservative hopeful Neil Mahapatra a 27% chance of winning on Thursday, despite the party claiming an eye-watering 55% of the vote in 2019. His cause may not have been helped by the Tory candidate calling the current government a "sh**show".

Just nine years ago the then Tory incumbent had hoovered up 58% of the vote - almost five times more than the second place candidate.

Political leaders, charity workers and activists in the town point to a bungled Tory campaign, a secret poverty crisis and Brexit as reasons why the Lib Dem’s candidate has been given a 61% chance of robbing Tunbridge Wells of its status as the heart of Conservative Britain.

One in five kids suffer from food poverty in Tunbridge Wells, where Nourish Community Foodbank has given out 30% more parcels to hungry residents each year since 2012.

Dawn Stanford, the foodbank’s operations director, told The Mirror of the shockingly high number of desperate Tunbridge Wellians who now need help to eat each week as the cost-of-living crisis makes the massive challenges of Covid “look easy”.

“People are more desperate now,” she said.

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“They’re working as hard as they can work, they are living to their budget, but they can't make ends meet. I don't know many people who have savings, they are living pay-check to pay-check. Normal life expenses are tipping people over now.”

It is not just isolated elderly people or those living in Tunbridge Wells’ harder up areas such as Sherwood and Broadwater who receive one of the 300 food parcels Nourish now sends out each week, but children who attend the town’s famously high performing grammar schools, Dawn claims.

Dawn has also helped terminally-ill residents unable to feed themselves and families plunged into crisis by a sudden death.

LBC radio presenter Iain Dale had to pull out of the race to replace retiring incumbent Greg Clark after the resident of 27 years was recorded saying he "never liked" Tunbridge Wells and "I'd quite happily live somewhere else".

If that doesn’t give Conservative voters a reason to turn out on Thursday, then the ongoing saga of the long derelict, bordered up cinema site in the town centre certainly won’t.

Since 2000 the plot has remained empty and sat on by speculating property developers, who refused to provide public access to a huge chunk of land or build on it despite many thwarted attempts by the Tory run council to get them to do so.

Residents fed-up with seeing part of their once thriving town centre derelict and become an unofficial refuge for rough-sleepers handed the Lib Dems overall control of the council this year, with plans now well underway for the plot to be developed into retirement homes.

The man hoping to continue this success for the party on July 4 is Mike Martin, a Senior Fellow at King’s College London who has served in the Army in Afghanistan and is arguably the closest thing the Lib Dems have to their own Rory Stewart.

Mr Martin told The Mirror that the race was “super close” but winnable, in part thanks to a recent demographic shift away from “old retired Colonels” to young families with more liberal views who have moved out of London.

He is trying to convince them to abandon the Tory ship by selling himself as an internationalist, “a bit right wing economically”, “explicitly pro-green” and strong on defence.

Mr Martin also boasts of being “pro-European” in a pitch to voters in the only constituency in Kent to vote Remain in the 2016 Brexit referendum.

“People totally feel like the Conservative Party has abandoned them,” he said.

“It's a simple choice in Tunbridge Wells. On July 5 there will either be a Conservative or Lib Dem MP. If you have a Lib Dem MP, you will have someone who lives in the town who is campaigning to fix it.”

Mr Martin has convinced at least one once loyal Tory to support him.

Anthony Harris runs a parish council in the area and was a long-time local member of the Conservatives, until he grew sick of the party’s obsession with Brexit and its failed economic policies.

He has seen the Tories “cleared out” of Remain voters since 2019, to be replaced by avid Brexiteers.

“Most moderate members have been driven out and it's just getting worse. You go along to these meetings and you have a rump now. It's a cross between league of empire loyalists and the BNP lot.”

Mr Harris claims the government has been in disarray since Boris Johnson opened a “moral vacuum” within it.

“This betting is the last straw. It is entirely consistent with the fact that since Partygate there is no accountability.”

The former pharmaceutical company boss has decided the “honest” and “clever” Mr Martin will have his vote this Thursday, breaking a decades long streak of him voting blue.

Whether enough former Tories follow to end 114 years of Tory rule remains to be seen.

Conservatives on brink of big loss in royal town once the heart of Tory Britain (2024)

FAQs

Why are the conservatives called Tories? ›

As a political term, Tory was an insult (derived from the Middle Irish word tóraidhe, modern Irish tóraí, meaning "outlaw", "robber", from the Irish word tóir, meaning "pursuit" since outlaws were "pursued men") that entered English politics during the Exclusion Bill crisis of 1678–1681.

What does tory mean in UK slang? ›

In the United Kingdom, the Conservative and Unionist Party is often colloquially referred to as the Tories, both by themselves and by opponents, and also in the media. Members and voters of the party are also often referred to as "Tories" as well.

What do the conservatives stand for in the UK? ›

The party is British unionist, opposing a united Ireland as well as Scottish and Welsh independence, and has been critical of devolution. Historically, the party supported the continuance and maintenance of the British Empire.

What do the conservatives believe in? ›

In Western culture, depending on the particular nation, conservatives seek to promote and preserve a range of institutions, such as the nuclear family, organised religion, the military, the nation-state, property rights, rule of law, aristocracy, and monarchy.

What are the beliefs of the Tory Party? ›

The party has generally had liberal economic policies that favour free market economics. The party is British unionist, historically opposing Irish reunification, Scottish and Welsh independence, and is generally critical of devolution.

What is the opposite of the Tory Party? ›

Whigs (British political party)

What is the British slang for beautiful girl? ›

Bonnie. Interpretation: A common Scottish phrase that means "pretty" or "beautiful" normally in reference to a woman or lass. In use: "She's a bonnie lass."

What does Ting mean in British slang? ›

Ting, it just means thing. You can say ting in so many ways. You can say it like, what are you doing later? I've got this ting to do.

Who is Tory's leader? ›

Leader of the Conservative Party (UK)
Leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party
Logo for the Conservative Party
Incumbent Rishi Sunak since 24 October 2022
TypeParty leader
StatusChief executive officer
2 more rows

What's the difference between Tory and Conservative? ›

In the latter part of the century, "Conservative" emerged as the official name. "Tory" was also used during the American War of Independence to refer to colonists who were loyal to the British monarchy. The term has also endured in Canada where centre-right Conservatives are known as Tories.

Is England Conservative or liberal? ›

The UK, like several other states, has sometimes been called a "two-and-a-half party system" because parliamentary politics is dominated by the Labour Party and Conservative Party, while the Liberal Democrats used to hold a significant number of seats (but still substantially less than Labour and the Conservatives), ...

What is the oldest political party in the world? ›

The Democratic Party was founded in 1828. It is also the oldest active voter-based political party in the world. The party has changed significantly during its nearly two centuries of existence.

Is Conservative left or right in the UK? ›

The terms left and right wing refer to the political spectrum, usually expressed in terms of a line with the far left at one end, the far right at the other and the centre in the middle. In British politics, the Labour party are considered centre-left, with the Conservatives correspondingly centre-right.

What are 3 beliefs of conservatives? ›

7 Core Principles of Conservatism
  • Individual Freedom. The birth of our great nation was inspired by the bold declaration that our individual,God-given liberties should be preserved against government intrusion. ...
  • Limited Government. ...
  • The Rule of Law. ...
  • Peace through Strength. ...
  • Fiscal Responsibility. ...
  • Free Markets. ...
  • Human Dignity.

What is the difference between liberals and conservatives? ›

But underlying that division is an even more fundamental fissure in the way people view the world. In politics, researchers usually define “conservativism” as a general tendency to resist change and tolerate social inequality. “Liberalism” means a tendency to embrace change and reject inequality.

Why was it called the Whig Party? ›

Creation, 1833–1836

In South Carolina and other states, those opposed to Jackson began to form small "Whig" parties. The Whig label implicitly compared "King Andrew" to King George III, the King of Great Britain at the time of the American Revolution.

What is another word for Tories? ›

What is another word for Tory?
conservativereactionary
rightisttraditionalist
archconservativepaleoconservative
P.CConservative
loyalistLoyalist
13 more rows

Was Margaret Thatcher Conservative? ›

Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, DStJ, PC, FRS, HonFRSC (née Roberts; 13 October 1925 – 8 April 2013) was a British stateswoman and Conservative politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990.

What does Tories mean in the American Revolution? ›

Loyalists were colonists in the Thirteen Colonies who remained loyal to the British Crown during the American Revolutionary War, often referred to as Tories, Royalists or King's Men at the time.

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