Former Tory cabinet minister Nadhim Zahawi has said the public was “right” to vote his party out of government, adding that now was the time to “regroup”.
The once dominant party have gone from 365 MPs to 121 following their worst-ever defeat, with many big beasts kicked out of parliament following Labour’s landslide victory.
Mr Zahawi said: “It is pretty catastrophic. To go from 365 MPs down to 121. That’s pretty shocking. But I do think that we have an opportunity to regroup.”
He said “serious talent” remained within the Conservative ranks and that he was “hopeful they will come together” and unite the party.
Referencing the multiple leadership contests of recent years he added: “For too many years, for far too long, we formed a circle, a firing squad and that is what the electorate saw.
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“Therefore they reacted, and they reacted quite rightly, by throwing us out of power.”
Mr Zahawi would not go as far as naming who should lead the party, or who should not, saying the most important thing for whoever comes forward is they have a plan “of how to unite the party”.
Asked if that meant he would not support a leadership bid from the likes of Suella Braverman or Kemi Badenoch, seen as divisive figures on the right of the party, he said he was “not going to come out and either criticise or attack my colleagues”.
Image: Nadhim Zahawi. Pic: PA
However, in a sign he does not want to see a shift to the right, the former Chancellor said he did not agree with calls from some within the party ranks to welcome Reform UK leader Nigel Farage into the fold.
Mr Zahawi said the Tories lost votes both to Reform UK and the Liberal Democrats and whoever takes over from Rishi Sunak will need to appeal to both sides.
He said: “Let’s not forget that they (the Lib Dems) have taken many, many seats from us, including my own in Stratford-on-Avon.
“So this idea that all we need to do is deal with the issues around Reform, immigration, migration is not enough.”
Mr Zahawi, who was sacked as Tory chairman last year following a row about his tax affairs, announced in May he would not fight the seat he represented since 2010.
Image: Suella Braverman is seen as a potential leadership contender.
Pic: PA
Stratford-on-Avon was one of many “blue wall” constituencies the Lib Dems gained in a successful night that saw Sir Ed Davey’s party win a record 72 seats overall, making them the third largest party after the SNP shrunk to just nine.
With the Tories now in opposition for the first time in 14 years, a battle is expected to commence not only for the leadership but the heart and soul of the party.
Former Home Secretary Ms Braverman, who retained her seat of Fareham and Waterlooville with a much-reduced majority, blamed high taxes, immigration and “insane political correctness” on the scale of the defeat in a scathing intervention that will be seen as her teeing up a potential leadership bid.
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