A Tory peer has said it’s probably time Labour “had a turn” in government.
Ken Clarke said the Conservatives needed to have “a rest” in opposition after more than a decade in power.
His comments are a boost for Keir Starmer, whose Labour Party continues to enjoy a healthy opinion poll lead over Rishi Sunak’s Tories.
Appearing on LBC, Lord Clarke - who served as a cabinet minister under Margaret Thatcher, John Major and David Cameron - compared to current situation to the New Labour landslide in 1997.
Asked how he’d feel if Labour win the next election, he said: “Well I’d be disappointed, because if I had a vote, which as a peer I don’t, I would have voted for the Conservatives.’
“But I’d feel as I felt when Tony Blair took over. I felt very angry because I was out of office, and the government, which I thought had a very successful economic policy had been defeated.
“It was entirely predictable, and I blamed my own side for it, the stupid warfare we’d been having over Europe and Maastricht.”
Speaking about Blair, Lord Clarke added: ’What I felt was that he was the person with the capability and personality to be prime minister and not disgrace the country.
“And it’s probably about time the social democrats had a turn and give us a rest.”
His comments come after former Tory minister Claire Perry O’Neill revealed she had quit the party.
She said the Conservatives are now consumed by “ideology and self-obsession”.