Paul Bristow was the Conservative MP for Peterborough from 2019 to 2024.
“I am sorry. In the final two years of the last Parliament, we spent too much time talking to ourselves, and squabbling. We committed regicide, twice. While there are things the Conservative government can look back on with pride, for too long we forgot we were there to serve the public. We gave the impression we didn’t care about our country’s major issues. If I become Leader of the Opposition, I shall spend every moment of the next Parliament trying to win back your trust.”
This is what a successful candidate vying to become the next Conservative Party leader should say now, and again the second they are elected. And again, and again, until it registers with the electoral coalition the Conservatives need to rebuild.
The sad truth is that we disastrously lost the last election. Labour only received 34 per cent of the vote. But they have an enormous majority because the public was fed up to the back teeth with us.
I knocked on doors for hours every day before and during the campaign. And heard time and time again how disappointed and angry people were.
With a notional majority of less than 2,000, I made the election a referendum on Peterborough’s future. I didn’t mention our manifesto or the national campaign once. I was embarrassed. My campaign was all about my record, my promises for the future, and a commitment to continue to be a high-profile, accessible MP. I lost by 118 votes.
Many commentators and pundits will say the Conservatives need to move to the right to address those who voted Reform (5,379 did in Peterborough). Others will point to the seats lost to Lib Dems and Greens and say we must pivot towards the centre. But both miss the point.
Few voted for Reform because they enthusiastically endorsed their manifesto. Even fewer voted Lib Dem because they wanted Ed Davey to be Prime Minister. They voted for these parties because they weren’t the Conservatives, and weren’t Labour. They were protest votes because we were so awful. It wasn’t about political positions. It’s because we let so many voters down.
I said this at the time of horrendous 2023 local election results. Too many people over-analyzed the results arguing we must adopt centrist policy positions. Number 10 compromised to try and keep the parliamentary party happy and failed to do what was necessary to deliver on Rishi Sunak’s five pledges. Instead of showing his MPs that he would draw a line in the sand like Boris Johnson did on Brexit, we had unworkable fudges that pleased no one and encouraged further sniping.
Of course, we should control our borders, and leave the European Court of Human Rights if this stops us from doing so. Of course, we should press for value in public spending and for lower taxes. Of course, we should trust teachers, healthcare professionals, and police officers to get on with the job and be suspicious of the bureaucracy and officialdom that stops them. And of course economic, energy, and global security should be at the centre of everything we do as a country. We are Conservatives. And we must promise to govern as Conservatives.
But first and foremost we must recognise why we lost. We must understand the political and societal realignment that has been going on since 2008 (and is still going on), and build an electoral coalition that can deliver us victory.
But most of all, we must recognise we won’t win again unless we say sorry and address why we lost.
Sorry seems to be the hardest word to say, but only contrition will set us free.
