Tories brace for three by-election losses as party chairman briefs Cabinet on unlikely win

THE Tories let slip they were braced for three by-election losses tomorrow.

Chairman Greg Hands briefed Cabinet on Tuesday the Government was unlikely to hold the seats.

And yesterday Downing Street accidentally published a photo of his notes with the warning of a “challenging night” scrawled in red ink.

Labour hopes to snatch Uxbridge and South Ruislip in West London — Boris Johnson’s old seat — and Selby and Ainsty in North Yorks.

The Lib Dems are eyeing Somerton and Frome in Somerset.

Rishi Sunak refused to say if he will shuffle his Cabinet.

“You would never expect me to comment on things like that,” he told reporters.

“What I’m determined to do is just deliver on the priorities that I set out for the country – halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce debt, cut waiting lists and stop the boats.”

But Foreign Secretary James Cleverly told a forum in Aspen, US, he was directly addressing the PM by saying he wanted to “stay put”.

The Prime Minister’s press secretary acknowledged it would be tough for the Tories to hold the three seats tomorrow.

She said: “By-elections, for incumbent governments, are very difficult, that is the nature of them.

“The election that the Conservative Party is most focused on is the general election.”