Tories could lose over 1,000 seats in local elections, party chair warns

Greg Hands seen with notes inked on his hand in TV interviews as he is grilled on May election losses

Tory chair Greg Hands seen with notes on hand in BBC interview (BBC)

The Conservatives are on course to lose more than 1,000 seats in May’s local elections, the party’s under-pressure chairman has said.

Greg Hands referred several times to a forecast by elections experts Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher of Tory seat losses of around 1,000 – with Labour set to make around 700 gains.

The cabinet chairman told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “The independent expectations are that the Conservatives will lose more than 1,000 seats and that Labour need to make big gains.”