The result of the General Election was the worst in our party’s history, albeit not unexpected. The polls had suggested a Labour landslide, but even as the exit poll came in I was getting messages saying that it surely couldn’t be possible.
Of course, it was possible and the Conservative Party held just 121 seats. We lost over 250 colleagues that night. There are swathes of the country that no longer have a single Conservative MP, including Wales, Cornwall, Derbyshire, Oxfordshire and Cumbria.
It is imperative that the party now makes the right choice. Failure to do so will result in us being out of power for a generation.
We need a leader that can unite the party and appeal to the wider electorate. That person is James Cleverly. James showed himself to be the star of the Conservative Party Conference this week.
Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat will battle it out to replace Rishi Sunak
PA
He started in a good position; as a former Party Chairman, James enjoys engaging with the membership and they know him and what he stands for. But, his performances on the main stage were standout.
He reminded us all that he is an extraordinarily strong communicator, someone that performs well in front of the media and is never afraid of scrutiny. The polling that I have seen so far is also favourable to James.
Polling by Techne, a member of the British Polling Council, shows that James is the preferred choice for Prime Minister amongst the public. Techne’s figures also show that James will bring more votes to the Conservative Party than any of the other candidates in the race.
The public are six per cent more likely to vote Conservative with James Cleverly as leader, twice as much as the candidate in second place. He leads the field in almost all regions and age groups, and with Labour and Liberal Democrat voters.
Tory leadership candidate, James Cleverly prepares his speech watched by wife Susie
PA
This is key. Our members need to remind themselves that we can only win an election if we appeal to the wider public. James Cleverly has always held the same Conservative values; he believes in lower taxes, a smaller state and higher defence spending.
He will sell those values to the electorate and make them proud to vote Conservative again. After all, we all know that Conservative solutions to the problems we face are the right ones.
Polling by Savanta also indicated that James leads other candidates amongst 2024 Labour, Liberal Democrat and Reform voters. Nine percent of 2024 Labour prefer James to Keir Starmer.
After the Conservative Party Conference, More in Common conducted focus groups that concluded that James Cleverly performed the best and most consistently. He was also judged to be relatable and approachable.
Lord Robert Hayward speaks on GB News
GB News
As James said in his speech, we do need to be more normal. As MPs start voting again next week, I would urge them to think about the upcoming local elections and the next General Election.
We need a leader that appeals to a wide audience, who can win back lost voters and get us battle-ready for the electoral tests ahead.
I have no doubt in my mind that James Cleverly is the candidate best placed to do that.
Lord Robert Hayward is a former Tory MP who regularly commentates on elections and opinion polls.
