A former Head of Communications at the Scottish conservatives has said it would be better for Britain if the party lost the next general election.
Andy Maciver, writing in The Herald, said that the Tories had lost their way and fallen sway to “insubstantial, unserious and unelectable people”,
He believes that the time had come to give way to Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour, and predicted that Rishi Sunak’s party would spend at least a decade out of power as it seeks to re-orientate itself away from populism, and return to “liberal political orthodoxy.”
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Highlighting the failings of deposed Prime Minister Liz Truss, and the recent scandal around Lee Anderson MP, Mr Maciver writes: “When you sleep with dogs, you get fleas, and you really shouldn’t whine about it after the fact.
“Ms Truss and Mr Anderson epitomise why the Conservative Party is at a crossroads, and why, for its own sake, it desperately needs to lose this year’s General Election.
“Having a strong and credible Conservative party, whether in government or in opposition, is deeply important for the country. The Tories have a rich history not just of winning elections, but of saving Britain and its economy from ruin.”
He said that the party risks turning into a Shadow of the Republicans in the US, which has slipped from the days of Eisenhower and Reagan to become a vehicle for the populism of Donald Trump.
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The former Comms chief writes: “If the Tories lose, as all polls predict they will, there will be blood on the carpet. There will be, initially at least, a substantial push towards a populist, insular, dim-witted party.
“That is fine. It is only when that approach is decimated at the ballot box that a more intelligent, liberal, thoughtful strain of Conservative ideology can feel empowered to take back control.
“There is a time to lose, and it is now.”
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