Suella Braverman, who was sacked as Tory home secretary late last year, has written a blistering article ahead of tomorrow’s general election, blaming the Conservative Party’s likely defeat on its own failings.
Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Braverman said that Tory HQ can attack Nigel Farage as much as it likes, but that the reality is the Conservatives are “haemorrhaging” votes to Reform “because we failed to cut immigration or tax, or deal with the net zero and woke policies we have presided over for 14 years.”
The former home secretary added that while she and others have warned that failing on these fronts would lead to disaster—pointing at the obvious signs saying: “Cliff Edge Dead Ahead, Bad for Buses”—too many Conservatives have stuck to the view that the party really needs to be more ‘centrist.’
Reform, meanwhile, reflects British public opinion in their main campaign focus—putting a halt to mass migration—as well as other issues close to the hearts of average Brits: post-Brexit policies, sovereignty, and taxation.
Former Prime Minister David Cameron has, of course, been a loud voice railing against Farage, accusing him of “dog whistle” politics. But it is Cameron’s own approach that has caused voters who really ought to support the Conservatives to loathe the party. Others, including Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, have cautioned the party against moving to the ‘Right.’
Braverman argued that such narrow-sightedness will mean that “we may lose hundreds of excellent MPs” at the election:
Because of our abject inability to have foreseen this inevitability months ago: that our failure to unite the Right would destroy us. Tory Cabinet ministers attacking Farage is like a patient berating the doctor for the illness. It’s an illness that could have been easily prevented by the patient taking heed of the warnings years ago, admitting to the problem and adopting some healthy habits.
Indeed, Braverman believes the July 4th election is already “over”—that Labour has obviously won and is about to inflict great damage on the country. Actually, the expected failure of the Conservatives to ward off a major Labour majority will be far worse than even she predicts. It won’t simply undo Brexit, pursue the ‘woke’ agenda more fervently and further unlock Britain’s borders, as Braverman suggests—it will also implement significant and irreversible constitutional change which will hamper genuine conservatives (including those who manage to gain power in future) for years to come.
Farage was quick to hail Braverman’s attack on the Conservative Left, noting that
The only logical conclusion you can take from her evisceration of her own party is that if you want to see people in the Commons fighting for the policies she espouses and standing up to [Labour leader Sir] Starmer, you need to vote for Reform UK.
Regardless of Braverman’s warning, the Conservatives are likely to continue ignoring the causes of their downfall, pointing the blame instead in the opposite direction. But first, they will pay very heavily for their arrogance at tomorrow’s election.
