Tory MP candidates are “f*cked off” at Theresa May, calling her election campaign a “clusterf*ck” , and saying it has has “shattered” their confidence in her ability to be a strong and stable Prime Minister.
Tory candidates also expressed frustration because they are being greeted with severe hostility by the electorate whilst campaigning on the doorstep, with many being told that they’re abandoning the Tories in favour of Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn.
The shocking (yet surprisingly truthful) comments come after a raft of similar concerns leaked to the press by Tory ministers and party insiders — painting a picture of chaos and anger within the supposedly strong and stable party.
The latest comments add yet more evidence to the growing sense that May’s nonsensical threats of a Corbyn lead “coalition of chaos” is really just a distraction from her own party’s problems of disunity.
Speaking to the Huffington Post UK, a Tory candidate originally elected in 2015 delivered this damning statement about May:
It’s a completely different experience to what it was four weeks ago. It’s made my job a hell of a lot harder. It’s a completely different experience. I’m pretty f*cked off.
People on the doorstep are telling me: ‘She’s going after pensioners, she doesn’t know what she’s doing, she doesn’t answer questions on the TV.’ I’ve switched from saying ‘vote for her’ to ‘vote for me’. It’s hard to understand how people in London who get paid a lot of money made such a clusterf*ck.
People voted for her because of what they thought she was like rather than what she is like. It’s totally shattered the confidence of the parliamentary party.
Colleagues up and down the country are just f*cked off.
She said she wasn’t going to call a general election, and they’ve totally f*cked it up.
If you were going to write what not to do in a campaign then running it on strong and stable leadership and changing your mind on everything would be it. It’s like something out of Yes Minister.
People are now beginning to vote for Jeremy Corbyn. I find that hard to understand.
The Huff Post reports that this sentiment is shared by other Tory MPs. Another Conservative who was first elected in 2015 said they agree with the remarks and insight of their colleague, adding that:
Theresa May might get a big majority but she has definitely lost power in the party.
He also told said that the Tories deserve to:
lose this election
Another disgrunted Tory MP raised similar concerns about May and her campaign, blaming her disgraceful manifesto — which was viewed instantly -even by hardcore Tory devotees – as being a complete slap in the face.
This MP told the Huff Post that:
There’s been some moaning about social care, it was poorly explained and the manifesto launch was a big missed opportunity.
They also taunted Corbyn supporters saying:
Under-30s love Corbyn but they don’t care enough to get off their lazy arses to vote for him!
Yet another Tory MP elected in 2015 expressed similar concerns, calling May’s social care u-turn “an unforced error”.
They also complimented Labour on their campaigning, which has seen Corbyn rapidly closing the Tory lead of around 25 points down to just 3 points in a matter of weeks, saying:
Labour campaign has done very, very well. It’s hoovered up the fragmentation of the left, in the same way that we have hoovered up a lot of Ukip voters. It’s a two party race for sure.
And:
At the start of the campaign there was an assumption Corbyn was toxic and the more people would see of him they less then would like him – which hasn’t happened as he’s attracted more of the left
These candid Conservative comments give us an insight into a party that is clearly now in turmoil. May is not some beloved leader who commands blind loyalty and respect from her party — the truth is there is a lot of anger within the party around her supposedly “strong and stable” leadership.
The latest comments follow a recent Daily Mail story which claimed that senior aides to May were being blackmailed by Tory MPs — who are taking secret notes on the aides, and then threatening to weaponise the information against them, should they lose their seat, or their place within the cabinet.
The Guardian’s Andrew Rawnsley also made similar claims about Tory chaos recently.
In fact, all one has to do is check the Daily Mail’s notoriously vile comments section to see that Tory loyalists are quickly turning their back on May — as former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan, turned establishment challenging journalist, Craig Murray, points out in this revealing blogpost.
Part of the Tory strategy is said to be building Corbyn up as credible threat in order to scare their voters to the ballot box — however, what is clear is that May has managed to infuriate some Tory MPs.
Given that May called this election supposedly to increase her majority and thus (for reasons never really explained) strengthen her hand at the Brexit EU negotiation table, the fact that recent polling consistently predicts the Tories may actually lose seats means that her decision could well backfire.
If the Tories lose just one seat, May would almost certainly be forced to resign. If she manages to lose given all of the advantages and the “reasons” she gave for calling this election, then she simply cannot justify staying on as Prime Minister.
It seems that many Tory MPs are thinking the same thing.
Let’s make sure May doesn’t just lose one seat on June 8, let’s try and put an end to the Tories once and for all.
