Historic Defeat Must Be ‘Watershed Moment’ For Reforming Tory Party, Says New MP
The Tory campaign was criticised after it led to a historic defeat and the loss of 251 seats (Alamy)
4 min read
The catastrophic defeat suffered by the Conservative Party last month must be a “watershed moment” for how it organises and campaigns, according to one of its newly-elected MPs.
Joe Robertson said there is “a widespread acceptance” that things need to change at Tory central office, known as CCHQ.
Speaking to The Rundown podcast from PoliticsHome the new member for the Isle of Wight East seat said the role of party chairman has been “a revolving door”, and that the expertise of local activists needs to be used more rather than a top-down structure when it comes to fighting the next election.
“I mean, Conservative central office are always there to be knocked, and particularly knocked by people who are unsuccessful, but equally they tend to rely on election victories to say they've done a good job,” Robertson said.
“And then it must follow that if you don't win, you've got to carry the can a bit.”
He added that although he felt by the time Rishi Sunak called July’s General Election the Tories were going to lose “however well the campaign was was run”, he felt “the operation at central office probably does need reform”.
Robertson added: “I think there is a widespread acceptance of that. It's got to be a watershed moment for your party organisation when you lose so badly.
“And if it's not, then there's a problem right there. So no, I would like to see quite a few changes come about at CCHQ.”
In the run-up to the election, where the Tories lost 251 seats and suffered their worst defeat for more than a century, senior party figures were deeply critical of the way the campaign was run, with attacks on messaging, allocation of funding as well as the timing of the decision to call the election in the first place.
Robertson said there was sometimes a feeling, even if it was often unfair, that those in Conservative head office, did not understand what it was like on the ground for candidates, adding that if the party wants to win back those constituencies it lost, then it needs to tap into the expertise of local activists, MPs and councillors.
He added: “I would always say, and this isn't rocket science, campaign hyper local - people want to know, especially if your party is not at its most popular, why should I vote for you if I'm not thinking of voting for your party?
“And that's really important, especially in an election like we've just had for the Conservatives.”
Earlier this week PoliticsHome reported the Tories are offering those former MPs who lost their seats free passes to attend this year’s annual conference.
New Conservative MP for Isle of Wight East Joe Robertson (Alamy)
Robertson agreed with the principle, telling the podcast: “There has been quite a lot of ‘let's keep our ex-colleagues involved and loved and wanted’, because a) it's quite collectively traumatic for a lot of people, but b) a lot of them will want to stand again and will have a good chance of winning again.
“And it wasn't their fault, they were running against the national tide, the national view of the Conservative Party that was just insurmountable for a lot of them.
“So I think there are good arguments for a little bit of an exception this time around, where we make sure that ex MPs feel and genuinely are involved in the rebuilding, and where do we go from here.
“Whether that amounts to a free pass to party conference, why not?”
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