For Tories reeling from local election disaster, denial is the first stage of grief

Senior Conservatives are putting in their fingers in their ears and pretending that the dismal results simply don’t exist, writes Joe Murphy. But unfortunately for them, they do – and it won’t be long before reality comes knocking

If Sunak crawls on to the election, it may simply be because rebel Tory MPs have lost hope that changing prime minister again could save them (PA Wire)

The people have spoken – the b*****ds,” would-be senator Dick Tuck notoriously remarked after being trounced. But at least he was paying attention. By contrast, the UK electorate yelled their heads off in towns and cities, and a parade of senior Conservatives responded by putting their fingers in their ears and singing “la la la”.

Phase one of Rishi Sunak’s big fightback began when the ballot boxes were opened, revealing an unmistakably odorous message from voters. However, phase one seemed to borrow from Theresa May’s 2017 election ploy of pretending nothing has changed.

“These results are typical for a government in mid-term,” la-lahed party chair Richard Holden, a sponge of a man tasked with soaking up all the mockery and taunts on the morning media round. Midterm? After four and a half years, three prime ministers, umpteen sleaze scandals and five by-elections with 20-plus point swings against the government, normal folk might conclude this is not a sticky patch, but the ghastly fag end of a particularly grotesque parliament.