Boris Johnson ‘must attract new Red Wall voters’ in the North to stay in power

BORIS Johnson and the Tories must forever pivot on the demands of the North to win elections, a report says.

PM could target Safe Labor seats if the upgrade plan is successful, it claimed.

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He needs to appeal to the new Red Wall constituencies rather than the safe havens of the South to stay in power, think tank Onward says.

Senior seats will include Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper in Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford, and the former Lib Dem leader in Westmorland and Lonsdale.

Onward said six out of ten battlefield seats at the next election will be in the North, compared with just two in ten in the South.

And it says Labor will struggle unless it extends its support beyond liberal left-wing voters.

Will Tanner, director of the centre-right think tank, said: “The next election, like the last, will be won in the North of England.

“While the South has gradually become less Conservative over time, there is no Green Wall waiting to hit the domestic counties in two years’ time.”

Mr Tanner, former Deputy Head of Policy to Prime Minister Theresa May, continued: “But there are dozens of traditional Labor Party seats in the North that are not yet convertible.

“This report highlights why a progressive upgrade is absolutely essential for the Conservative Party and why Labor still has a mountain to climb.”