The Tory Party is rotten. Boris Johnson and Richard Tice should join up to save Britain from Labour catastrophe, says Lady McAlpine

I began to smell "rot" in 2010 when our selection committee was summarily dismissed by Central Office who then put in their own candidates.

Since then, I've seen the same thing happen again. I watched and listened to what happened in 2022 when the most successful Conservative leader in a generation was ousted from office and I could reach only one conclusion. There was a cabal that had "helped" Boris to win his stupendous majority assuming they could stab him in the back quickly, get rid of him, put in their own man.

I can prove nothing, but I watched in utter horror as it played out rather more slowly than the "gang" who had wanted to get rid of Boris had hoped: because of Covid. Yet it was Covid that gave them the chance to destroy him.

The Prime Minister didn't lie. He didn't attend parties. Read Nadine Dorries' book. Ask yourself why none of the people she names are suing her. Ask why respected politicians and journalists are happy to be quoted.

Sadly, rot set in a long time ago in my party and it is now beyond treatment.

What we need now is a new, squeaky clean "Reformed Conservative" party that believes in Great Britain. We must find a way of wiping the slate clean, listen to what the voters want.

Stop wasting time and money on nonsense like "gender" and "net zero", stop paying people not to work (then saying we need immigrants to do the jobs!)

We need a government that listens and has the guts to dismantle and re-build the NHS with doctors and nurses, not overweight pen-pushers. A Government that can face up to the Civil service, (remember: Blair increased it by a third) and cut it back to a logical workforce that works, and in the offices built for it.

We need a government that has the guts to look hard at the education we offer the next generation and is prepared to prioritise literacy and numeracy, to turn red-brick Universities back into local Polytechnics where kids can learn practical skills on short courses or on day release while working, not frittering away three years then starting their working lives in debt.

We need to stop the boats too. We are a small island. How dare foreign powers dictate what we do in our sovereign territory. Why are we so wet? It's time for tough action.

There is a way out of the current dire situation and the horror of handing Labour a landslide election victory. We must bring Boris back in as leader of a new version of the Tories.

Clearly the current Central Office mafia won't allow him back in the current party and if I were him, I wouldn't want to be associated with them. But if we sacked the Central Office wets and bring back Boris, election victory is still possible.

And if cleaning out the party from within is not possible, there is a second option: We could field a combination of "reformed Conservatives" and "Reform UK".

Richard Tice of Reform is the businessman that Boris is not. Meanwhile, Boris has the dynamism, brain, experience, and charisma that can pull the country together.

As Mayor of London, Boris was independent of Conservative head office and surrounded himself with people who got things done. As Party leader, he didn't stand a chance.

He and Richard Tice could be a formidable combination. Could they work together? Surely it is worth trying.

We are trying to vote in enough MPs to form a government with old-fashioned conservative values. What's in a name? Pride in the title of "Conservative Party", or "Reform" is a conceit we cannot afford. We "conservative" thinkers have to pull together, not tear each other apart.

Those who claim to care about the country but see the name of a party as a hindrance, simply do not care enough. How about just "Vote for VicTORY" ?