Former Tory cabinet minister Nadhim Zahawi has said the public was “right” to vote his party out of government, adding that now was the time to “regroup”.
Mr Zahawi, who stepped down ahead of the general election, told Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips the results last week were “pretty catastrophic” for the Conservatives.
The once dominant party have gone from 365 MPs to 121 following their worst-ever defeat, with many big beasts kicked out of parliament following Labour’s landslide victory.
Election latest: Starmer embarks on ‘reset’ tour
Mr Zahawi said: “It is pretty catastrophic. To go from 365 MPs down to 121. That’s pretty shocking. But I do think that we have an opportunity to regroup.”
He said “serious talent” remained within the Conservative ranks and that he was “hopeful they will come together” and unite the party.
Referencing the multiple leadership contests of recent years, he added: “For too many years, for far too long, we formed a circle, a firing squad and that is what the electorate saw.
“Therefore they reacted, and they reacted quite rightly, by throwing us out of power.”
Mr Zahawi would not go as far as naming who should lead the Conservatives, or who should not, saying the most important thing for whoever comes forward is they have a plan “of how to unite the party”.
Asked if that meant he would not support a leadership bid from the likes of Suella Braverman or Kemi Badenoch, seen as divisive figures on the right of the spectrum, he said he was “not going to come out and either criticise or attack my colleagues”.
However, in a sign he does not want to see a shift to the right, the former chancellor said he did not agree with calls from some former colleagues to welcome Reform UK leader Nigel Farage into the fold.
Mr Zahawi said the Tories lost votes both to Reform UK and the Liberal Democrats and whoever takes over from…
