Ben Houchen, Mayor of the Tees Valley

A Conservative peer has predicted that Reform UK would win a majority if a general election were held today.

Speaking on the first day of the Tories’ annual conference in Manchester, Ben Houchen – who is also the mayor for Tees Valley – said his party has a “long way to go” after all the “damage” of the last government.

It’s a blow to Kemi Badenoch who is attending the Tory conference for the first time as party leader, 11 months after winning the party’s leadership contest.

The Conservatives have slumped even further in the polls in that time, and are now down to 16% according to YouGov, while Reform are in the lead on 29%.

So Times Radio host Adam Boulton asked the Tory peer on Sunday: “Is it remotely credible, looking back at Liz Truss, Lady Mone, and all the rest, that the Conservatives could live that down?”

Truss crashed the UK economy and left office after less than 50 days in 10 Downing Street, while peer Michelle Mone – who used to sit in the Lords as a Tory – has been ordered to repay £122m of taxpayer funds after a firm........

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