Tory MP Tobias Ellwood says his party should not entertain the prospect of a pact with Reform UK and Nigel Farage.
Speaking on GB News, the MP told Camilla Tominey about his preferred election strategy as his party continues to struggle in the polls.
Tory woes were compounded last week with a double by-election defeat which saw Labour overturn hefty majorities to claim seats in Wellingborough and Kingswood.
Reform leader Richard Tice was buoyed by the party’s “best ever” by-election results last week with 13 per cent of the votes in Wellingborough and 10.4 per cent in Kingswood, roughly matching the levels it has been polling nationally.
Tice has vowed to “destroy” the Tories at the next election with the rebranded Brexit Party.
He has insisted Reform UK would never consider repeating the Brexit Party’s 2019 deal with the Conservatives - which saw it withdraw candidates in 317 constituencies after then-Tory leader Boris Johnson vowed to leave the EU by 2020.
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But according to Ellwood, such a ploy should not be entertained again and it is the centre ground where the Tories will accrue most votes.
“The centre ground in British politics, the floating voters, that is how you win elections”, he said on GB News.
“Going too far to the right or to the left does not win you elections, Jeremy Corbyn proved that.
“The big grandees, the big beasts, they have gone for the centre ground.”
Rishi Sunak suffered a bruising set of defeats in the by-elections
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Tobias Ellwood joins Camilla Tominey on GB News
GB NEWS
Asked by Camilla Tominey about his party being “killed on the right”, with Reform stealing voters from the Tories, Ellwood refused to entertain the idea of a pact.
“That takes you even further to the extreme, gifting the centre ground to Labour who will then win”, he said.
“This is a false strategy, it really is.”
Rishi Sunak has called on British conservatives to “come together” after a bruising night for the Tories.
The results mean the Conservative Government has endured more by-election losses than any administration since the 1960s, surpassing the eight defeats suffered by John Major in the run-up to Tony Blair’s 1997 landslide victory.
Sunak, who had sought to play down the losses as “difficult” mid-term elections, on Friday night called on right-wing and conservative voters to unite to keep Sir Keir Starmer out of Number 10.
Writing in the Telegraph, he said: “Later this year, we will have a general election that will decide who governs our country. I am confident that by then we will have made more progress, that the plan will be delivering the security and opportunity that people crave.
“At the next election, I will need the support of everyone who wants lower taxes and secure borders because the alternative, Keir Starmer, believes in neither of those things.
“The Conservative family must come together to defeat Labour and ensure a brighter future for our country. A vote for anyone other than the Conservatives will just help Starmer.”