Tories Give Free Conference Passes To Ex-MPs Who Lost Their Seats
3 min read
The Conservative party is offering free conference passes to former Tory MPs who lost their seats at the General Election.
The Autumn conference, which takes place in Birmingham between 29 September and 2 October, will be the first major Conservative party event since its heavy defeat to Labour on 4 July, and the first Tory conference to be held with the party out of power since 2009.
Attendees who aren't parliamentarians are usually charged to attend the conference. This year, it will cost a regular Tory member either £66 or £242 to be there, depending on when they apply.
However, Tories who lost their seats at the General Election will be allowed by party headquarters to go for free, PoliticsHome understands.
A Conservative party spokesperson told PoliticsHome: “We are committed to drawing on the expertise and talent in our party in helping us rebuild – and that includes our former MPs.
“We look forward welcoming them alongside other party members at our conference in Birmingham this year, as we continue to build a party ready for the future.”
A former secretary of state said the decision to let Tories who lost their seats last month attend for free was a "sensible move".
However, a senior party source said there should be greater focus on "refreshing, new voices and perspectives". They told PoliticsHome: "It’s a nice human gesture, but the outgoing parliamentary party failed. The party failed. There is far too much ‘we need the old members back in their seats’ language coming from the leadership."
The Conservatives suffered their worst ever election defeat on 4 July. The party lost 251 House of Commons seats, falling to 121, after bleeding votes to Labour, the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK.
Former prime minister Rishi Sunak has remained as party leader since the defeat, having agreed to stay on until his successor is announced in early November. Candidates who are still in the running to be next Tory leader by the time the conference arrives will use the event to appeal to party members who will ultimately choose the winner.
Sunak in recent weeks has sought to reach out to defeated Tories to apologise for the Conservative party election campaign.
In July, he met with some of them at central London's Carlton Club to say sorry for the outcome. The former PM apologised eight times to the dozens of Tories who turned up, according to Sky News.
Sunak has also tried to speak to every former MP who lost their seat on an individual basis, and has written to former Conservative MPs thanking them for their service and celebrating their local achievements.
Gillian Keegan, the former education secretary who lost her seat to the Lib Dems on 4 July, last week admitted "no one" in Sunak's former Cabinet understood why he decided to hold the election in July when he could have waited until later in the year.
Speaking on the Political Currency podcast, she said: "No one can really see why [Sunak called the election for July... It already looked like it was difficult. All of us sat in the Cabinet Room thinking, ‘Well, I suppose there must be a reason,’ but none of us could think what it was."
Additional reporting by Adam Payne.
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