FORMER Conservative Party Leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith has insisted he isn’t going anywhere – and will fight to win his seat at the next election .
In the wake of reports he could lose his Chingford and Wood Green, Mr Duncan Smith was in a combative mood this morning on The Camilla Tominey Show on GB News.
He said: “I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to fight for that seat, and win it. And by the way, everybody told me that for the last two elections, I couldn’t hold on and I did so.”
Asked if he was worried about not having Boris Johnson as leader this time round, he continued: “I think Boris should be campaigning, he is a good campaigner and helps change the weather. I hope Rishi will come to an arrangement along those lines as that will make sense. We should use the best talents we’ve got from the party, and not rule people off because they’ve been around too long.
“When you have a man that is a great campaigner, I think it’s useful for you, to make sure he’s on your side campaigning.
Meanwhile Mr Duncan Smith also told how he believes Rishi Sunak wants to reduce taxation.
“First of all, the UK economy, and this is shown in figures, is much more resilient . After all, there are still huge numbers of jobs out there – filling them is the problem and not having people out of work. That’s the key bit. And the second bit is I think, which is because I know him as Prime Minister, is that in his heart, Rishi is somebody who wants to reduce taxation.
“They are too high, but he knows that and we’ve got to get the taxes down. We need to do it at the right moment, which is sometime in the early part of this year, I think. And I think that will help drive greater growth. And if we get that I think the game of who wins the next election starts to change quite dramatically.”
Mr Duncan Smith’s comments come weeks after a top political expert told GB News his Chingford and Wood Green constituency was among the most high profile Tory seats in peril at the next election.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt could both lose their seats, he said.
He said in December: “I mean, Iain Duncan Smith, for example, is sitting on a 3% majority. He looks extremely vulnerable.
“Boris Johnson, with his 15% majority, looks at least to have a fighting chance. If, but if, and only if the Conservatives at least make some recovery in the polls not necessarily back to the level where they would still be in office, but at least back to the level where they would not be suffering what would be, at the moment, fairly little less than a decimation, given that the party is more than 20 points behind in the polls.
“But, I mean, there is no doubt he’s vulnerable. Also, by the way, equally vulnerable is Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor in southwest Surrey.
“He’s sitting on a very similar majority of around 15%. So he might survive if things improve. But at the moment, life doesn’t look too comfortable for him either.”
