Following the Conservative party’s worst ever defeat, Suella Braverman said the party’s election strategy was “foolish” and led voters to Labour.
“We have been failed by this government and this outcome is well deserved,” the former home secretary said in an opinion piece in the Telegraph.
“If you lose an election there are consequences. I regret it, but many Conservatives don’t,” she added.
“People didn’t elect Labour, they rejected us.”
She said the prime minister and his party had adopted a “foolish strategy of intermittently and inconsistently claiming to be a ‘Tory right'” that collapsed when compared with the liberal Conservative record.
Braverman is one of the leading candidates to become the next Conservative leader, with defeated leader Rishi Sunak set to step down once a successor has been chosen.
She retained her seat in Fareham and Waterlooville, but Labour, the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK all increased their vote shares.
Looking to the future, Braverman outlined three things the Conservatives must do before they can win again.
- Restoring trust
- Restoring credibility
- Regaining hope
“We are not a racist country that needs progressive thinking like ‘decolonization’ and DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion),” she said.
She finally referred to Nigel Farage’s entrance into the House of Commons, saying “he can just say the right things” but “we have to implement them”.
