Priti Patel will blame local election losses on Tory leadership in speech

Witham MP expected to attack ‘those in power’ for sidelining party’s grassroots at conference of pro-Boris Johnson group

Priti Patel will attack the Conservative party leadership, blaming heavy local election losses on “those in power and control”, in a speech on Saturday.

The former home secretary is expected to accuse the Tory leadership of having “done a better job at damaging our party” over the past year than Keir Starmer’s Labour party or left-wing campaign groups.