Theresa May is braced for an electoral backlash over Brexit as voters prepare to go to the polls on Thursday. Senior Tories acknowledged the party faces a “difficult” night in the local elections in England, with one expert predicting the party will lose more than 800 seats. Worse could follow if May 23’s European elections take place, with opinion polls suggesting the Conservatives lie a distant third behind the Brexit Party and Labour. Brandon Lewis (Stefan Rousseau/PA)Asked when the Tories would launch their campaign, he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: “Our first priority is to not have to fight the European elections. A YouGov study for Hope Not Hate put the Tories on 13% for the European contest, behind the Brexit Party on 28% and Labour on 22%.

Source: Irish Examiner April 28, 2019 19:07 UTC