The Tory leadership contest could alienate voters in blue and red wall seats

Analysis: the party's coalition is built on the red wall' and younger southern professionals, whose patience for posturing is limited

The Conservative leadership campaign has seen the party jettison large parts of the platform it was elected on in 2019 - not least Boris Johnson's pledge to level up the country - tacking rightwards on the economy and issues such as the environment and education. Should Conservatives be concerned that the rightward lurch of their party threatens its appeal at the next election to both new and traditional supporters?

Younger, more educated voters have been moving out of London in their droves to the capital's commuter belt for some time, tilting the demographic makeup of numerous seats. Many marginal constituencies in the south-east - places such as Esher and Walton and Winchester - are home to large numbers of graduates and professionals, groups that once upon a time were reliable Conservative voters. The party can no longer take these voters for granted, especially those of working age. Not only are they more likely to be Remainers but they also tend to hold more socially liberal attitudes on issues such as immigration and the environment, and are less likely to be sympathetic to anti-woke, anti-green posturing.