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The Tories could lose as many as 1,000 seats in this week's local elections, as the party reportedly faces running out of cash.

Party bosses fear they face losing up to a quarter of their 5,521 council seats across the country, according to the Sunday Express.

And the party's chief treasurer is thought to be in "complete despair" because both Remain and Leave-backing donors are holding back their money.

The paper reported treasurer Sir Mick Davis saying privately that they had been "deserted by both Remain and Leave donors and therefore I am unable to run CCHQ and ensure we are capable of fighting and winning [elections]".

(Image: PA)

Tory Chairman Brandon Lewis acknowledged "huge frustration" among grassroots members and activists as he pleaded with them to back the Conservatives rather than Nigel Farage's Brexit Party.

The Conservatives are braced for a backlash from voters at Thursday's local elections and face the prospect of coming a distant third in European contests later this month behind Labour and Mr Farage's outfit.

Tory deputy chairwoman Helen Whately admitted the local elections "are going to be a difficult night for us" after predictions her party could lose a thousand councillors amid anger over Brexit.

Elections will take place at 248 councils in England and Ms Whately admitted the contests in England were a chance to "kick the Government" and said she had seen "more anger than before" on the doorstep.

Speaking to Sky News' Sophy Ridge On Sunday, she said: "I think there's no doubt that it's going to be a difficult night for us."

Mr Lewis told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show: "Our first priority is to not have to fight the European elections. I think we should be looking to do everything we can to respect that 2016 referendum.

"If and when we are at the point where we know we are definitely fighting those European elections then we will take some decisions about that."

He played down reports about donors deserting the party, insisting that 2018 had been a "record peacetime fundraising year".

But he added: "I don't deny the frustration people in our party have over where we are on Brexit. I share that frustration, I want to get this done so we don't fight those European elections."

Last week an internal Lib Dem memo predicted a “catastrophe” for Theresa May ’s party when swathes of England hold council polls on May 2.

More than 8,300 seats are up for grabs, half of them Conservative.

The same set of seats was contested four years ago, when David Cameron led the Conservatives to a shock general election triumph, delivering the party’s first parliamentary majority for 23 years.

But fewer than half of those town hall voters who backed the Tories in 2015 plan to cast their ballot for the Conservatives next Thursday, Lib Dem insiders believe.

(Image: Getty Images)

Brexit chaos and nine years of Tory rule are set to combine to inflict a humiliating defeat on the Prime Minister, according to a single-page briefing, marked “confidential”, seen by the Mirror.

Lib Dem canvassers have carried out a “switching analysis”, comparing doorstep responses of 50,000 voters in 2015 with the same 50,000 individuals’ voting plans in 2019.

“Both sets of data show the same stark pattern – the implosion of the Conservative vote reported in the media is real,” says the briefing.

“Just 45% of people who expressed support for the Conservatives to us in 2015 are now intending to definitely or probably vote Conservative.”