Tories could lose TWO crunch by-elections because of the mortgage crisis, new analysis shows

THE Tories could lose TWO crunch by-elections because of the mortgage crisis, new analysis reveals.

Mid Bedfordshire – whose current MP Nadine Dorries has vowed to quit – has the third highest proportion of mortgage holders in the country at 41.5 per cent.

Selby and Ainsty in Yorkshire – which is having a byelection on July 20 after Nigel Adams quit – is not far behind on 37 per cent.

Both are usually safe Tory seats but party insiders fear they will fall amid the crisis.

The research, by the Resolution Foundation, also found that overall seats in the leafy Blue Wall are hardest hit by the mortgage bomb.

Cara Pacitti, senior economist at the think-tank, said the mortgage bomb will hit homeowners harder than previous crises because of the house price explosion.

She warned: “Britain’s current mortgage crunch is sharper and more concentrated than previous crises in the 80s and 90s.

“There are currently just over 7 million mortgage households across Britain, and they are especially concentrated in southern, relatively wealthy areas outside of the big cities, like Wokingham and Mid-Bedfordshire.

“In these areas around two-in-five constituents have a mortgage and will face a big income hit when they come to renew their deals.

“In these areas the mortgage crisis risks causing a massive headache for the government at the next election if home owners blame them for rocketing bills.”

A senior Tory said: “Things are very bleak. These interest rates are a catastrophe.

“I think the election is 100 per cent lost and the only question now is to what degree – how much do we lose by.”

A senior Rishi Sunak ally said: “We just can’t catch a break at the moment. It is one thing after another.”

Mr Sunak is also facing byelections in Boris Johnson’s old seat of Uxbridge in west London and Somerton and Frome in Somerset after shamed Tory David Warburton quit.