Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, she attributed the party’s worst-ever defeat - in which it was reduced to just 121 seats - to the party pursuing an “idiotic strategy of intermittently and inconsistently making ‘Tory Right’ noises which disintegrated when set against our liberal Conservative record”.
“I say again, whatever some of my colleagues think, the voters aren’t mugs: they saw what we did in office and ignored what we insincerely said while campaigning,” she added.
The former home secretary - who retained her seat of Fareham and Waterlooville but with a much-reduced majority - blamed “high taxes” and “high immigration” as well as “insane political correctness” she believed the party had embraced for the scale of the defeat.
I’m still of the opinion that this wasn’t an election based on policy, it was an election based on party gate, Lizz Trusses disaster budget and the cost of living crisis.
This was a tactical vote to punish the Tories, I think very few people were thinking they’d vote Tory if only they were a little less right wing. There’s still a considerable proportion of people that blame crime and being poorer on migrants.
Libdem lady elected in my constituency literally had it on her leaflets - vote tactically for me to punish tories. And she won on that basis. Hope she will prove herself, lets see, but I agree with your assessment.