Tory Mayor Predicts Reform Would Win A Majority If An Election Were Held Today

<div><img src="https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/68e2765a180000f85a5d118b.jpg?ops=scalefit_630_noupscale" alt="Ben Houchen, Mayor of the Tees Valley" data-caption="Ben Houchen, Mayor of the Tees Valley" data-credit-link-back="" data-credit="Pool via Getty Images" />Ben Houchen, Mayor of the Tees Valley</div><div class="content-list-component text"><p>A <a href="news/conservative-party" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Conservative</a> peer has predicted that <a href="news/reform-uk" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reform</a> UK would win a majority if a general election were held today.</p><p>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.</p><p>It’s a blow to <a href="news/kemi-badenoch" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kemi Badenoch</a> who is attending the Tory conference for the first time as party leader, 11 months after winning the party’s leadership contest.</p><p>The Conservatives have slumped even further in the polls in that time, and are now down to 16% according to <a href="https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/trackers/voting-intention" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">YouGov,</a> while Reform are in the lead on 29%.</p><p>So Times Radio host Adam Boulton asked the Tory peer on Sunday: “Is it remotely credible, looking back at <a href="news/liz-truss" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Liz Truss</a>, Lady Mone, and all the rest, that the Conservatives could live that down?”</p><p>Truss crashed