Britain is a conservative country, and we let it down

Elections are a brutal business. Scores of dedicated, hard-working and principled colleagues have lost their seats through no fault of their own. We owe them profound thanks for their service.

As Rishi Sunak graciously conceded defeat on the steps of No 10, his manifest decency and his dedication to public service were clear. Rishi both governed and campaigned valiantly, in often difficult circumstances. I also saw him give and receive genuine warmth when he visited Purley in my constituency just this week.

But let’s be in no doubt. The election result was a terrible day for the Conservatives. We suffered a staggering defeat, losing 250 seats – over two thirds of those we previously held. This is the worst result in our party’s long history.

We must start by acknowledging that the public became deeply disillusioned with how the Conservatives governed over recent years. We must reflect deeply and with humility on this.

The voters didn’t get it wrong. We did.

What I found speaking to people on the doorstep and in public debates was that so many voters were deeply disappointed that we had not better put into practice the fundamental Conservative values with which they agreed with in principle. Many voters didn’t want us to change those values. Just implement them better.

We had promised lower immigration and yet did not deliver it. We are the party of low taxes and low regulation and yet struggled to reduce either. We are the party of effective public service, and yet have often fallen short in practice. We represent high standards in public life, yet have often failed to meet them

We should honestly and with humility acknowledge these shortcomings and commit to overcoming them. Only specific plans, carefully developed and explained over time, are likely to convince voters than we have understood and have changed.

Nor were Labour’s principles – such as they are possible to discern at all these days – emphatically endorsed at the election. Despite the Labour Party’s overwhelming Parliamentary majority, Labour only achieved 34% of the popular vote. This is far lower than the vote shares achieved in other landslides – such as the 42% achieved by Thatcher in 1983, the 43% achieved by Blair in 1997 or the 44% achieved by Boris Johnson in 2019. Keir Starmer’s vote share was substantially less even than Jeremy Corbyn achieved in 2017 and was barely more than Corbyn managed in his 2019 defeat. 

Sir Keir Starmer may have bagfuls of MPs to stuff into the green benches, but he certainly does not have an overwhelming popular vote.

This begs the obvious question how it is that such a comparatively low share of the vote led to a tsunami-scale landslide for Stamer. The simple answer is that scores and scores of seats were sacrificed – in many cases by tiny margins – because the votes of right-leaning folks were split between the Conservatives and Reform. Seats were handed to Labour not because people enthusiastically embraced Labour’s high taxing, trade union-loving wokery – but because in our system a split vote leads with grim inevitably to catastrophic defeat.

We Conservatives need to re-consolidate our support as a starting point for recovery. We can do this. By re-asserting enduring and popular fundamental Conservative values. By acknowledging the mistakes that were made in failing to properly implement these. And by showing humility in accepting the changes that are needed.

Our fundamental values are the foundations upon which we can rebuild. Keeping taxes low; regulations light; our borders controlled; our public services accountable and effective; maintaining high ethical standards; and by putting personal responsibility at the heart of our programme.

We can reconsolidate the vote on the right which was so catastrophically splintered this week. By doing that, we can ensure Sir Keir Starmer’s time in office is not a second longer than it needs to be.

Chris Philp has just been reelected as MP for Croydon South