Tory president says Keir Starmer should be 'worried' - despite huge lead in polls

Conservative Speaker Nadhim Zahawi made the statement just days after his party suffered its worst defeat in Chester in a by-election since 1832 and polls consistently gave Labor a huge lead over Rishi Sunak's Conservative Party

Nadhim Zahawi on Sky News (

Image: Nadhim Zahawi says the Tories are in "reconstruction mode")

Nadhim Zahawi has insisted Keir Starmer should be 'worried' about his electoral chances - just moments after being shown.

The chairman of the Conservative Party made a bizarre claim just days after his party suffered its worst defeat in Chester in a by-election since 1832.

After Friday's result, polling guru Professor Sir John Curtice said Labor was now in a stronger position than "they have been in the past 10.12 years" .

In recent months, the party has enjoyed a huge lead in the polls, with the Conservatives trailing Labor by 25 points.

Asked about his concern about the state of the ballot box, Mr Zahawi told Sky News' Sophy Ridge program that the country was going through "difficult" times.

He said the Tories were in "rebuild mode" to be "ready and fit for the job" in time for the local elections in May 2023.

The Conservative President appeared on Sky News on Sunday

But Mr Zahawi, who founded polling firm YouGov, added: "If you dig under the data, I'd be worried if I was Keir Starmer.

"His [Mr. Starmer's] numbers are very low," the Conservative chairman said. "There's not a great passion for what Keir Starmer is saying."

Speaking on the BBC with Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday, Mr Zahawi also blamed 'internal challenges' within the Conservative Party as the reason for the gap in the polls.

Mr. Zahawi has also lobbied a growing number of Tory MPs announcing their departure from politics ahead of the next election, including former Chancellor Sajid Javid, who ran for leadership this summer.

He claimed that "great candidates" had approached Conserv...