Three quarters of former Conservative MPs who misplaced their seats on the final election are poised to try a comeback, new analysis suggests.
In line with a survey by the Conservatives Collectively group — a community headed by Grant Shapps, the previous defence secretary — solely 10 of 88 ex-Tory MPs polled dominated out standing once more. An extra 38 stated they might “definitely” run, whereas 25 indicated they had been “leaning towards” a renewed marketing campaign for workplace.
Amongst these contemplating a return are distinguished former MPs Penny Mordaunt, who stays on the social gathering’s candidate listing, and Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, who stated he was “thinking very strongly” about re-entering parliament. Sir Nick Gibb, Sir Ranil Jayawardena and Sir Marcus Jones — all of whom misplaced their seats — every acquired knighthoods within the new yr’s honours listing.
Shapps, who misplaced the constituency of Welwyn Hatfield and is now main Conservatives Collectively, stated he had not dominated out a comeback. “It’s hard to sit on the sidelines and not feel that pull,” he famous, including that any determination would in the end “depend on the voters”.
Conservatives Collectively is modelled on Labour Collectively, a gaggle beforehand run by Morgan McSweeney, now the prime minister’s chief of employees. It combines coaching for would-be Conservative MPs with native polling evaluation to feed into social gathering technique. Early analysis suggests Labour stays the Tories’ principal challenger, with Reform UK appearing extra as a “vote splitter” than a critical rival.
A latest report from Conservatives Collectively criticised the social gathering’s use of social media through the earlier marketing campaign, accusing it of “stupidity” for neglecting TikTok and failing to attraction to youthful voters. Shapps stated the choice to name the election on 4 July final yr was taken “without understanding, consultation, warning or sufficient preparation,” including that the ensuing vacuum allowed Reform to outperform the Tories on key digital platforms.
Lord Kempsell, who co-leads the group with Shapps, warned that Conservative assist now skews considerably older, with the common seemingly Tory voter aged 63, in contrast with a a lot youthful profile in 2019. To assist rebuild, he believes the social gathering should “master social media, not just dabble in it,” if it hopes to attach with a broader swathe of the voters.
