The new Tory deputy party chair, Lee Anderson, made headlines this morning for his views on the death penalty and after clashing with a BBC radio presenter over accusations of dishonesty. But it was the decision taken off-stage by a fellow red wall MP that tells us far more about the future of the Conservatives.
Jo Gideon only won her Stoke-on-Trent seat in 2019, defeating Labour’s Gareth Snell. But with a majority of fewer than 1,000 votes, and Snell projected to regain the seat by a swingometer-breaking margin, Gideon has decided to stand down at the next election.
