Max Wilkinson, who wrote earlier today on LDV about the Cheltenham navel gazing, features in today’s Guardian. Political correspondent Peter Walker wrote:

“Sitting in a town centre pub converted from an imposing former courthouse, Max Wilkinson, a local Liberal Democrat councillor who competed against Chalk in 2019 and will also fight the next election, says the imminent change of leader has not overly changed voter sentiment…

In 2019, the incumbent Tory MP, the former solicitor general Alex Chalk, held off the Liberal Democrats by just 981 votes, and one local Conservative conceded they expect to lose the seat by 5,000-plus votes next time.”

That’s positive news but the tortuous leadership election must end first. (Please let it end soon!)

Predicting that Truss will win, Wilkinson said:

Since they deposed Johnson, nothing has changed on the doorstep. Johnson was driving people away, but it’s the failures over areas like the NHS and the cost of living that is enduring.

Wilkinson also predicts that Truss will prove toxic to local voters. He said the leadership contest is taking place in a “totally parallel universe” to that experienced by most locals:

Conservative voters and Conservative members are extremely different people. This is a problem for the party. They haven’t really grasped that the people they need to retain are just interested in other stuff.

Liz Truss obviously hasn’t been canvassing in Cheltenham during her visit, or she might not be quite so confident. https://t.co/AedW01qN6e

— Max Wilkinson (@mpmwilko) August 11, 2022

* Andy Boddington is a Lib Dem councillor in Shropshire. He blogs at andybodders.co.uk.