The Conservative Party suffered a historic defeat in July’s general election – and the rout was worst in the East of England.
The Tories lost 35 MPs across the region. Their share of the vote fell by 26.5%, more than anywhere else in the country.
In Clacton, South West Norfolk and Great Yarmouth the vote share was down by more than 40%
As Conservatives gather for their party conference and hear from the four candidates who want to be the next leader, two former MPs and a defeated candidate told Politics East what the new leader needs to do if the party is to win again.
“I want a leader that is going to apologise”
Charlotte Salomon, from Essex, was the Conservative candidate for Norwich North. The party had held the seat for the last fifteen years but it was taken by Labour with a majority of almost 11,000.
“For me personally the result was devastating. I think the writing was on the wall coming into the election but it doesn’t make it any easier.
“It was very, very difficult to see that we had lost so much faith with our own voter base. There were a lot of reasons why voters lost trust in politicians and the Conservative Party, and there’s not going to be a magic bullet to regain that trust.
“I want a leader that’s going to apologise, diagnose the problems we had in the party and come up with a plan to be a very strong opposition and a voice for Conservative voters.
“I want to see more confidence in Conservative values. That is where we lost our way in the last parliament. No more talking right and governing left.
“We have to be very confident in our values and bring the country back to a place where there is some hope and optimism again.”
“The public don’t think we care”
Robert Halfon was MP for Harlow for 14 years as well as a government minister for some of that time. He stood down ahead of the election. Labour took his former seat with a majority of 2,500.
“Our election defeat was inevitable and, sadly, it was deserved because we had lost the trust of the British people.
“We were squabbling and divided. We weren’t able to get our message across and the British people gave their verdict.
“Whoever becomes the next Conservative leader must set out what being Conservative is all about: it’s about Brexit, it’s about freedom, its about taxation and we need to have a very clear message that normal people can follow and understand.
“We have to restore trust. That is the most importantly political commodity and we do that by delivering on the things we say we’re going to do and by behaving in a responsible manner and doing things which people see to be ethical.
“We must also be the party of social justice. The public don’t think that we care about the disadvantaged, they think the Conservatives are just for the rich and we must do everything possible to change that perception.”
“We need a leader who doesn’t do infighting”
Vicky Ford was MP for Chelmsford for 7 years and prior to that was a Conservative member of the European Parliament. She lost her seat, which she had held with a majority of 17,600, to the Liberal Democrats, who took it with a majority of 4,700.
“It was a very firm and hard message from the electorate and there were two things that people said to me again and again – they wanted us to stop the scandals and stop the infighting.
“So I am looking for a leader who is scandal free and doesn’t indulge in infighting.
“I have met many people in politics who work really hard for local people and try to solve issues and make the world a better place whether locally, nationally or internationally.
“We need someone who can show the public that the Conservatives are good at running things. That is how you restore trust.”