Suella Braverman Blasts Sunak’s ‘Idiotic Strategy’ in Scathing Critique, Eyes Conservative Leadership

Suella Braverman criticizes 'foolish tactics' for leading Conservatives to unprecedented electoral loss

In a thinly disguised bid for leadership shared through a piece in The Sunday Telegraph, the ex-home secretary attributes the severe defeat to elevated taxes and high immigration levels.

Political correspondent @Journoamrogers

Sunday, July 7, 2024, 2:

Suella Braverman has delivered a harsh critique regarding the Conservative Party's defeat in the election, attributing the loss to Rishi Sunak's "foolish tactics" that she claims regarded the electorate as "fools."

In remarks interpreted as laying the groundwork for a possible run at the leadership, the ex-home secretary stated that her party "did not succeed in governing and merited the outcome."

In an article for The Sunday Telegraph, she pointed to the party's record-breaking loss, where they dwindled to only 121 seats. She blamed this on the foolish approach of sporadically adopting hard-right Tory stances, which ultimately fell apart when compared to their established record of liberal conservatism.

She reiterated, "Despite what some of my peers may believe, the electorate is not easily fooled. They recognized our actions in government and overlooked the disingenuous promises made during the campaign," she continued.

The ex-minister of internal affairs, who managed to hold onto her constituency of Fareham and Waterlooville albeit with a significantly smaller margin of victory, attributed the major loss to "elevated taxes" and "increased immigration," along with what she termed "excessive political correctness" that she felt the party had adopted.

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Acknowledging the views of Conservative pundits who attributed the outcome to pressures for a more right-leaning shift, Ms. Braverman contended, "The issue wasn't individuals like myself and David Frost pointing out the errors; it was the errors themselves!"

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Post-election analysis

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Following her avoidance of inquiries about whether she would initiate her campaign for the upcoming Conservative leadership, Ms. Braverman's piece is published just after Mr. Sunak announced his resignation post-election results.

Several Conservative MPs are anticipated to announce their bids for party leadership, among them ex-security minister Tom Tugendhat, ex-immigration minister Robert Jenrick, ex-business secretary Kemi Badenoch, and ex-home secretary Dame Priti Patel.

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Indicating her possible candidacy for leadership, Ms. Braverman stated that the Conservative Party must "reform our party structure to ensure MPs are responsive to members."

"We cannot consider excluding the grassroots from a leadership election," she stated.

She pointed out that Mr. Sunak became the Conservative leader after Liz Truss's resignation, stating, "The leader who cost two-thirds of my fellow MPs their positions wasn't chosen by the public. That decision was made by us, the MPs."

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Standing outside Downing Street following the electoral defeat, Mr. Sunak expressed regret for the outcome and stated that he wouldn't step down right away, but would wait until the commencement of a Conservative leadership contest.

"Firstly, I need to apologize. I've put everything into this position," he stated.

"You've made it unmistakably clear that there needs to be a change in the UK government."

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Learn more: Jeremy Hunt opts not to run in Conservative leadership contest. A glimpse into the internal dynamics following the Conservative party's significant loss.

"Ultimately, the only opinion that counts is yours."

Ms. Braverman, signaling her policy priorities should she replace Mr. Sunak as the leader of the Conservative Party, stated that the party should withdraw from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and abolish the Human Rights Act as measures to tighten control on immigration and to amend what she referred to as "Labour's Equality Act."

She noted, "Nigel Farage is currently in the Commons. He doesn't have any office record to justify.

"He may have the knack for saying what sounds good, but it's up to us to actually make it happen. We should have begun taking action a long time ago."

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