Rachel Maclean is scaling mountains in the Himalayas, while the Tories face political ones
As the Conservatives brace for what could be a 500 seat wipeout in the local elections this Thursday, Rachel Maclean, Kemi Badenoch’s director of strategy at Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ), is off hiking in the Himalayas.
The timing of the former Tory minister’s holiday has prompted jokes about “mountains to climb” for the Tories, even in the Telegraph.
A Telegraph View opinion piece read: “The fact she has been in the Himalayas invites comments about mountains to climb”, while also suggesting “a lack of seriousness at the top of the party’s organisation”.
The article also highlighted “a certain mordant symbolism” of Maclean’s absence in the lead-up to these crucial elections, while her Tory colleagues “fret over the ramifications of an expected breakthrough by Reform and the continued threat from the Liberal Democrats”.
A recent poll by Tory pollster and peer Lord Robert Hayward has predicted that the Tories could lose between 475 and 525 council seats, and control of 16 councils on 1 May.
With Badenoch herself acknowledging that this week’s elections will be “very difficult” for her party, Maclean may find the real challenges lie ahead when she returns from her holiday.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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