Betting the House: How the Conservative Party’s Election Campaign Game Backfired
The new edition of Byline Times exposes how Rishi Sunak's failing game of 'Snakes and Leaders' went so badly wrong
As news breaks of yet more Conservative candidates and officials under investigation for betting on the date of the election, the new edition of Byline Times digs into how Rishi Sunak’s bigger election gamble failed to pay off.
From planted Conservative councillors disguised as warehouse workers, to a Trump-style smear operation against Keir Starmer, we reveal how the party’s increasingly desperate attempts to keep themselves in power have only increased the scale of their likely defeat.
However, while these attempts, which our VoteWatch project have helped to expose, tell us a lot about the current state of the Conservative party, they are merely a small part of a much broader political failure over the past 14 years.
As our editors Hardeep Matharu and Peter Jukes put it in their editorial for the new edition, the demise of the Conservative party confirms that “right-wing populism is a channel for protest but loses its potency in the practicalities of power.”
As well as reporting on the dodgy campaign tactics and dishonesty of this campaign, our final edition before the general election also includes exclusive columns and analysis from the likes of Peter Oborne, Bonnie Greer, Rosie Holt, Jonathan Pie, Alexandra Hall Hall and many more.
It is also beautifully illustrated by the great Martin Rowson, whose wonderful game of “Snakes and Leaders” will help accompany our election night coverage live from the Byline Festival
Peter, Hardeep and myself will be discussing all of this and much more on a special live broadcast, which you can catch at 5PM on Friday.
On the show, which we have titled Vote Watch Live: 'All Bets are On' we will also delve into the big unanswered questions about Nigel Farage, Trump, Russia and Brexit and discuss what the established press are getting so badly wrong about the potential rise of Faragist populism in the UK.
If you would like to join us then do please subscribe to Byline TV and set yourself a reminder for the show at 5PM UK time on Friday by clicking the link below.
Unlike most major news organisations, we have no billionaire backers, or hedge fund cash to keep us going and we rely solely on the generous support of our tens of thousands of subscribers.
So if you haven’t done so already, do please support fearless independent journalism by picking up a copy of the new edition of Byline Times in the shops, or by taking out a print subscription by clicking the link below.