Conservative party is fighting for its life, says former cabinet minister

The Conservative party is fighting to justify its existence amid concerns its pipeline of future voters is "completely dead", according to a former cabinet minister and leading think-tank director.

- Rowena Mason Whitehall editor Michael Goodier

Simon Clarke, an ally of Boris Johnson, who backed Kemi Badenoch for the leadership last year, was among a string of former Tory ministers and serving MPs to claim she faced removal by the party if she did not turn its fortunes around by next year's local elections.

He said the Conservative party needed to face up to reality that it has "not had a clear, compelling narrative for a long time", and that it must focus on intergenerational fairness, public services reform and the economy.

Clarke's assessment comes after a week of recriminations for the Conservatives over the local election results, with Badenoch telling activists she was sorry for the loss of more than 600 councillors.

The 200-year-old party, which has traditionally vied only with Labour to lead the government, has recently slumped to about 17% in the polls, while Reform and the Lib Dems are increasing challengers to the two-party system.

Reform UK took more than 600 seats, control of 10 councils, and two mayoralties in a bruising night for the two main parties. Data shows that about 57 of the Reform councillors elected had previously stood for the Conservatives, and Tory MPs have reported losing many of their activists to Nigel Farage's party, adding to its improved political organisation.

Speaking about whether the Conservative party could recover and renew while being squeezed by Labour and Reform UK, Clarke said he agreed with the former chancellor Jeremy Hunt that the party could not rule out becoming extinct.