As Jo Swinson prepares to launch manifesto senior Tories fear Dominic Raab could be under pressure from Liberal Democrats in Esther and Walton. “The chat among Surrey Tories is that Dominic Raab could be in trouble,” a senior Tory tells me @joswinson @DominicRaab
A Lib Dem victory in Esher and Walton would mark an astonishing turnaround. Raab won 58.6% of the vote in 2017 and had a majority of 23,298....over Labour. The Lib Dems came third with 17.3%
But Esher and Walton voted Remain in the Brexit referendum by 58.43%. So thinking among the senior Tories worried about the foreign secretary’s prospects is that, as a prominent Brexiteer, Raab could suffer if the Lib Dems rally the Remain vote
The senior Tories are generally quite worried about the party in Surrey. They fear the Lib Dems could win Guildford for the first time since 2001 because Anne Milton, one of the 21 Tory rebels, could split the Tory vote after deciding to stand as an Independent
Other Tories acknowledge Dominic Raab is facing new pressure. But they think he will be fine: 1) the Remain vote was under 60% so Esher and Walton not designated as a massive Remain area; 2) the average age in constituency is older than national average which will favour Tories
