Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and cabinet veteran Michael Gove are at the top of the Lib Dem hit list of top Tory targets they believe they can unseat in the general election. The Lib Dems aim to break the Tory blue wall of traditionally safe seats in the south of England, with previously unwinnable constituencies now in their sights. Since winning the Chesham and Amersham by-election in 2021, Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey has expressed his hopes to turn the blue wall yellow on the electoral map. The party’s strategy includes pouring extra resources into seats held by current cabinet ministers and those being vacated by former Tory grandees, with echoes of a past decapitation strategy that backfired in 2005. Despite past failures, with polls suggesting the Lib Dems could win more seats than the Conservatives, the party’s leadership is optimistic about pulling off major shocks. The vulnerability of seats held by cabinet ministers like Michael Gove, Gillian Keegan, Lucy Frazer, and Alex Chalk is highlighted, with hopes to overturn their majorities in the upcoming election. Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper emphasized that no Conservative seat is safe anymore, with the public fed up after years of scandal and sleaze. The Lib Dems also aim to target former cabinet ministers like Greg Clark, Theresa May, Sir John Redwood, Dominic Raab, and Nadhim Zahawi in hopes of securing those vulnerable seats.
Tories warned ‘no seat is safe’ as Lib Dems put Gove and Hunt on ‘big beast’ hit list
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Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and cabinet veteran Michael Gove appear at the head of a Lib Dem hit list of top Tory targets they believe they can unseat in the general election.
The list is part of a wider strategy by the Lib Dems to “break the Tory blue wall” of traditionally safe seats across the south of England with previously unwinnable constituencies in counties such as Surrey now in their targets.
Since winning the Chesham and Amersham by-election in 2021, Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey has made no secret of his hopes to repaint the blue wall yellow on the electoral map.
But the plan to pour extra resources into seats held by five current cabinet ministers and five more being vacated by former Tory grandees including Theresa May and Sir John Redwood has echoes of the party’s disastrous decapitation strategy in 2005 which backfired spectacularly.
Michael Gove’s seat is vulnerable (PA)
Back in the 2005 election, the Lib Dems put forward a list which included the then Tory leader Michael Howard and one of his top lieutenants, Oliver Letwin, which they believed they could take. In the end they failed in all of them and most targets increased their majorities.
But this time, with a poll today suggesting the Lib Dems could win more seats than the Conservatives, the party’s leadership is optimistic about pulling off some major shocks.
In the new constituency of Godalming and Ash, mostly made up from South West Surrey, Mr Hunt has ploughed £100,000 of his own money to defend the seat as he becomes nervous. Before the boundary changes he had an 8,817 majority in 2019.
Meanwhile the Lib Dems believe that Mr Gove’s Surrey Heath seat is also up for grabs . It was also changed in the boundary review but the Lib Dems hoping to overturn what was an 18,349 majority in 2019 under the old boundaries.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt could be in danger of losing his seat (Aaron Chown/PA) (PA Wire)
Other cabinet ministers being heavily targeted are education secretary Gillian Keegan in Chichester, culture secretary Lucy Frazer in South East Cambridgeshire, and justice secretary Alex Chalk in Cheltenham.
Few are giving Mr Chalk much hope of holding on with a majority from 2019 of just 981 to defend. Ms Frazer is also in trouble defending a majority of 11,490 while Ms Keegan looks safer with a majority of 21,490 to defend.
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper told The Independent: “Conservative bigwigs are not safe from losing their seats after their disastrous record in government.
“A string of Conservative Ministers have completely botched their jobs, from crashing the economy to letting hospitals crumble and sewage pollute our rivers.
“There is no such thing as a safe Conservative seat anymore. The British public are fed up after years of sleaze and scandal.
“The Liberal Democrats are ready to kick these Conservative big beasts out of office. Across vast swathes of the country, it is a two horse race between the Liberal Democrats and a desperately out of touch Conservative party.”
The Lib Dems also hope to take out former cabinet minister Greg Clark in Tunbridge Wells, while departing grandees Theresa May in Maidenhead, Sir John Redwood in Wokingham, Dominic Raab in Esher and Walton, and Nadhim Zahawi in Stratford-upon-Avon have made all those seats vulnerable.
Read the full story on www.independent.co.uk
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/gove-hunt-tory-hit-list-lib-dems-general-election-b2550890.html