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The Conservatives remain on course for a complete wipeout.

Stuart Mitchell/@IncMonocle

Hello all and welcome back to Heaver News! The public have sent an absolutely brutal message to Rishi Sunak’s Government. Yeah, another one.

Before I get to that though, allow me to thank Elizabeth for becoming the latest paid subscriber of this newsletter. Cheers!

Do consider upgrading if you’d like to support my work - in return you’ll get the ability to read every article in full and post comments.

Speaking of which, several paid supporters responded to my previous article highlighting Reform UK’s electoral progress last week and some don’t agree with me.

That’s fine - I’m not the sensitive type and I’m always interested in what paid supporters of Heaver News have to say whether they agree with me or not. Bring on the debate in the comments below, I say.

Mrs Bucket was once again critical of Reform UK and my assessment:

“Michael, your optimism for Reform is touching but a sign of hope over reality.

“With the APPALLING behaviour of the Tories in recent years on countless fronts, not least holding our borders open for all comers and overseeing crime and chaos on our streets, ANY half organised 'right-wing' party should have gained seats all over the country and made headlines.

Whilst Zorro clearly doesn’t agree with my outlook either, saying:

“Michael preaches from an unconvincing hymn sheet no doubt provided by Reform HQ.”

I can confirm there is no such hymn sheet! Certainly Reform did not stand in many areas this time round, lacking the resources and grassroots network that was built up by a party like UKIP for instance.

But remember that took many years - Reform is still relatively new and I think Richard Tice having established the party as third in the national polls is a massive achievement.

Is there room for improvement? Of course. The Reform challenge now clearly is to surpass the Tories in the polls and win seats at the General Election.

RW52’s feedback on Reform’s recent performance was more positive:

“Not bad for a small funded party. It's all about the GE.

“I would hope for a November election only because I believe Kneeling Starmer will have to tell the public what his policies are and then he will be found out. It could be a very interesting GE.”

What no one can deny is that the Sunak-led Conservatives are heading towards a humiliating result - with one poll now pointing to the Tories potentially being reduced to around just a dozen MPs left in Parliament after the next election. Could it really get that bad?