Voters are beginning to think the Conservatives are weird - and they look like getting weirder

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Here's some heartening news from the Guardian:

Conservative politicians have started to be seen as "weird", and few members of the public - even including the party’s own voters - are able to identify the Tory leadership candidates, research suggests. ...

Multiple focus groups of former Tory voters suggested that those who switched their vote at the last election were not inclined to back to the Conservatives any time soon.

The research by More in Common said the party struggled with relatability, particularly in Liberal Democrat areas, by focusing on topics "which excite the base, or the highly politically engaged" but were distant from ordinary people’s lives.

In a similar vein to the attack that US Democrats have levelled against Republicans, especially the vice-presidential candidate JD Vance, the research found "there is a danger that the Conservatives have started to become seen as 'weird'".

I've also been looking at the findings of a YouGov survey of Tory members that was published last week.

Among them are the insights that:

• 42 per cent of respondents supported the idea of a merger between their party and Reform UK
• 51 per cent believe the party should move to the right under the next leader
• 50 per cent believe its primary target over the next parliament should be Reform voters

The survey also finds that members want to be able to vote on party policy at their annual conference, to have a greater role in leadership elections and to elect a deputy leader.

All good democratic ideas. But given the members' views, if they were enacted they would do little for the Conservatives' electoral prospects.