The Conservatives are doomed to lose the election because voters will not forgive the behaviour of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, according to Britain’s top pollster. Professor Sir John Curtice said Mr Johnson’s No 10 lockdown parties and Ms Truss’s economic catastrophe have made it impossible for Rishi Sunak to cling on to power.

The prime minister threw away his only hope of mending the electoral damage caused by Mr Johnson and Ms Truss when he failed to condemn their conduct sufficiently strongly, said Prof Curtice.

Mr Johnson and Ms Truss each helped to ruin the reputation of the Tories, a party that has now been in power for 14 years, in the space of just weeks, he claimed.

The Conservatives’ ratings fell six points in six weeks after the scandal of Mr Johnson’s Downing St lockdown parties was exposed, and another six points in the six weeks following the collapse of Ms Truss’s economic policies, said Prof Curtice, who is a professor of politics at Strathclyde University. Asked if the Tories could reverse their slide in popularity ratings in time for the election this year, Prof Curtice said:

The ships have probably sailed so long ago that it’s difficult for them now to do much about it.

The question for people in Walsall – and particularly Paddock – is, do they want to be on the wrong side of this major political change? Do they want to keep supporting a party on its way out – for good reason – or do they want to be part of the movement for change. Something for voters to think about when heading to the ballot box this Thursday.

Published and promoted by Dan Barker on behalf of the Liberal Democrats, 1 Vincent Square, London, SW1P 2PN.