Tory mayor Ben Houchen takes extraordinary swipe at Rishi Sunak on eve of local elections [Video]

High-profile Tory mayor Ben Houchen has lashed out at the state of the Conservative Party under Rishi Sunak as he battles to hold on to his job running Tees Valley.

In an exclusive interview with The Independent, Lord Houchen warned that his potential defeat in this week’s local elections should be “a wake-up call” for Tory MPs.

And in an extraordinary broadside at his own party, he said voters were pledging to support him, but not the Tories at the next general election.

Lord Houchen told The Independent: “There are lots of people who will come up to me and speak to me that say that they’re going to vote for me, but they probably won’t be voting for the Conservative Party in the general election.”

He said attempts by ministers to crack down on illegal migration, including the …