Is this the Tory death spiral?
Political Fix
Financial Times
4.2 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 21 June 2024
⏱️ 43 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
An election-betting scandal is sending the Tory campaign into freefall. The latest blow to the Conservatives comes as some polls predict a wipeout for the party on July 4. The FT’s Whitehall editor Lucy Fisher is joined by Political Fix regulars Stephen Bush and Jim Pickard to discuss this latest blow in a campaign littered with blunders. Plus, the team analyses the effect of the Reform party on the Tory vote and what might happen after the election.
Follow Lucy on X: @LOS_Fisher, Jim @PickardJE. Stephen @stephenkb
Want more? Free links:
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Keir Starmer: ‘People need hope, but it needs to be realistic hope’
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Presented by Lucy Fisher. Produced by Audrey Tinline with Leah Quinn and Josh Gabert-Doyon.
Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music and audio mix by Breen Turner. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
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Transcript
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| 0:25.0 | This is a high-risk investment and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong. Have we entered the Tory death spiral? |
| 0:37.0 | Welcome to Political Fix from the FT with me Lucy Fisher. |
| 0:41.0 | I'm joined in the studio today by political fix regulars |
| 0:44.1 | Stephen Bush, hi Stephen, Hi Lucy, and Jim Picard, hi Jim. Hello. |
| 0:52.1 | Well another week another set of polls that seem to be even worse for the Tories, but before we get on to this disastrous set of MRP models, I think we've got to talk about the huge scandal that has erupted and is engulfing the Tories regarding gambling. |
| 1:06.5 | Jim, tell us what's happened here. |
| 1:08.9 | So this began with the revelation at Craig Williams, who was the MP who has PPS was kind of, you know, the bad carrier for the Prime Minister, had placed a bet on the timing of the election just before Rishi Sunner announced it. |
| 1:21.0 | And since then we've discovered that a policeman who was working down the street |
| 1:26.5 | also did something similar. |
| 1:27.9 | And then on top of that, the Conservative candidate who happens to be married to a conservative who was |
| 1:34.4 | was basically senior in the campaign. |
| 1:36.6 | And at Chris Cook, the F.T. Colic has looked at the data showing a spike of thousands |
| 1:40.9 | of pounds of bets just before the election was called. |
| 1:43.4 | So the question being raised now is who else knew about the date of the election and put money on it? |
... |
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