Even when the Conservatives slumped to a historic defeat at the general election, few would have thought that one of the world's oldest political parties would soon be overtaken in the polls by a young pretender on the radical right. Fast forward two years and the Conservatives are locked in a battle for supremacy with Reform UK which largely defeated them in last May's local elections and has been securing defections from Tory councillors, former MPs, and even some current MPs. It's led some