Plummeting Conservative opinion poll leads suggest that Boris Johnson is wrong – voters do care about Tory sleaze.
And they resent that a selfish, cash-for-curtains Prime Minister appeared to feather his own nest while they feared for lives and livelihoods.
Who initially paid for his £800-a-roll gold wallpaper? Why did a PM on £157,372, with the keys to two rent-free homes, think he can’t live on less than £300,000, reportedly seeking wealthy sponsors for a nanny and personal trainer?
These are important questions the public want answers to.
This isn’t just about the dishonesty of a leader who secretly puts himself in a position where powerful rich moguls may be able to seek favours.
It’s also an issue of a privileged charlatan looking after himself instead of the country.
The egotistical Johnson successfully built an unprincipled career on doing what’s best for him, including backing Brexit in order to become PM, when the twister must have known Britain was better off in the European Union.
But when his trickery fails, he’s uncomfortable with the fact he cannot fool all the people all the time.
The Tories lecturing the poor and low-waged about only having kids when they can afford them, as they vote for benefit caps and two-kid limits, are hypocritically silent when the wealthfare recipient turns out to be their liar in No 10.
Johnson’s vaccine bounce is slowly being deflated by charges of political corruption, but it won’t be flat before polling booths open this week.
Tory leads ranging from 1% to 5% are a headache for Keir Starmer and Labour, although a week ago it was a thumping migraine of 11%.
Constitutionally, the result in Scotland will be the most significant – and if the SNP win a Holyrood majority then Westminster would be foolish to veto Nicola Sturgeon’s right to demand a second separation referendum.
But the stakes are high for Starmer, who desperately wants proof that Labour is taking baby steps forward when a General Election may be just two years away.
Labour needs to hold Hartlepool in the by-election – and they should be winning mayoral contests in the West Midlands and Tees Valley, keeping control of Northern England councils, retaining power in Wales and finishing ahead of the Tories in Scotland. All are unlikely. None would be disastrous.
Covid’s shaken up British politics and it’s worth remembering that Starmer’s ratings, and occasionally Labour’s, were better than Johnson’s and the Tories before the NHS mass vaccination programme.
Labour needs a shot in the arm on Thursday, as does its leader.
Rattled Johnson will be depending on postal votes returned before his tendency towards sleaze was exposed.
