The UK's new deputy prime minister, Oliver Dowden, has said the Conservative party expects to lose 1,000 seats in the upcoming local council elections explaining that the party was still in the midterm situation. 'When we previously fought those seats, we were in a different position. So there is an expectation of about 1,000 or so seats lost,' Dowden told Sophie Ridge on Sky News. He also praised Rishi Sunak for bringing a sense of calm to the party, in a swipe at the turbulence of the Johnson era. Dowden said: 'He’s brought a calmness and a stability and an order to government. He’s methodically dealing with problems and I’m finding that people are responding positively to that'

New deputy PM faces media after Raab bullying report and says Tories expect to lose 1,000 council seats – live