Tory MP Andrew Griffith says the party must take time to reflect on what the British people were telling the party during their disastrous General Election defeat.
Speaking about the Tory leadership race, Mr Griffith told GB News the party shouldn’t race into a decision.
He said: “I think the most important thing is that we get it right. We’ve got a job to do immediately to oppose this government. That’s why we’ve now got a full shadow cabinet formed. So, there’s a job that needs to be done right now. And we are out there doing it. Now, the most important thing about any leadership contest is that we get the right leader for the right phase. Now, sadly, we’re going to have the luxury of some time in opposition. That was the message we heard loud and clear from the British people. So, we’ve got some thinking to do. We’ve got to reflect on the results. And I would favour taking the right amount of time to do that.
“This is a time to reflect and really understand what it is that the British people were telling us. I think a large part of that was about competency. It wasn’t about necessarily them falling out of love with the idea of Conservatives that want to keep people’s taxes low, allowing them to keep more of what they earn, spend public money wisely, but there’s clearly some messages that that we have to take away from what was a very significant defeat, that regrettably cost so many of my former colleagues, their places in Parliament.
“So we need to learn those lessons and not rush too quickly, in my view, into an immediate selection contest about the answer.”
On Suella Braverman’s claims the party is at risk of becoming seen as full of “centrist cranks”, he said: “I don’t think that’s the number one thing that the British people want to hear from the Conservatives. They delivered a very clear message. They gave us one of our worst ever defeats.
“And a lot of that in my view was as much about our conduct as our policies. I’m somebody who’s a low tax, traditional Conservative who believes in a small state while still providing a basic level of public services. And I want to see taxes for example, reduced not increased as Labour is threatening to do. Over the coming weeks we’re going to get a statement from Rachel Reeves and in the Autumn, we’ll get our budget. It’s really important they’re held to account. They promised not to put up taxes on ordinary people. That must be what they are held to account on.”
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