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The Conservative party was further divided on Wednesday as Suella Braverman continued her attacks on her colleagues, leading to growing calls for her to leave the party and join Reform UK.
The former Home Secretary continued his battle against his own party by blaming the “liberals” within it, just days after attacking the LGBT+ movement.
She took aim at Kemi Badenoch, a rival candidate in the leadership race, who Ms Braverman publicly said was suffering a “nervous breakdown”.
Rank-and-file Conservative MPs have erupted into civil war over the election of Bob Blackman as the new chairman of the 1922 Committee, with one MP describing it as a “farce”.
But Mr Braverman continues to face fierce criticism, having not backed down from his criticism of the party following its crushing general election defeat, blaming the “Liberal Conservatives” for the defeat and calling flying the Progress Party flag “terrible”.
One Conservative MP said: I She has ruled out any chance of running for the leadership and has hinted she may switch to Nigel Farage’s right-wing camp.
“I think she’ll move to the Reform Party because she’s lost all her allies and upset the gays (who are a big part of the party no matter what anyone says),” the MP said. “She has no chance of becoming leader and she thinks she’s bigger than she is, so what does she have left?”
“If Mr Zuella does not run for leadership, I wouldn’t be surprised if he switches to the Reform Party within the next few months,” said a former Conservative MP who lost his seat in the election.
As the criticism grew, Braverman sat down with X and continued his attacks on his colleague, saying, “Liberals are infuriated by my speech. It’s not easy for them to hear the basic truths of our party.”
“But I will continue to tell them, on behalf of the vast majority of people who have common sense, who are patriotic and who are conservative.”
She also publicly slammed Ms Badenoch after comments made by him at a shadow cabinet meeting, in which he appeared to question Ms Braverman’s mental state, were leaked to the press.
In his own X message, Badenoch lamented that the conversation had been leaked, adding: “Without a private forum to discuss our party’s agenda, we will never be able to fully address what our constituents told us last week.”
She continued, “Too often in government we have nodded in the room while arguing outside. This culture needs to change. We need to be honest with each other in private and then be united on the direction we take.”
The remarks immediately provoked a sharp response from Mr Braverman, who replied: “Kemi and other ministers have ruined Rishi and the party and should not have gone along with it.”
“The unwillingness to take responsibility is the root of our problems. It’s not someone else’s fault.”
In what is expected to be a tough leadership contest, senior Conservative leaders are understood to be increasingly concerned about the continued attacks from Ms Braverman as they struggle to unite ahead of the leadership contest.
Rishi Sunak appeared before the 1922 Committee in an attempt to bring unity to the party at a time of growing hostility between its various factions.
According to sources, he thanked Conservative MPs for their hard work, accepted responsibility for last week’s defeat and said he “regrets not being able to help my colleagues more.” He took time over the weekend to call all of the Conservative MPs who lost their seats to make sure “they are well looked after.”
But Sir Edward Leigh told reporters after the meeting: “The Conservative party will never recover unless it is a proper Conservative party doing conservative things. People are totally outraged and we have failed to control mass immigration, both legal and illegal.”
“Until we wake up and become a real Conservative party that gets immigration and taxes under control, we’ll never recover.”
“Just saying, ‘We’re united’ won’t fix this situation. We have to stand up for something.”
Conservative MPs were incensed by the handling of the election of a new chairman for the 1922 committee, in which Bob Blackman was appointed chairman over the veteran Sir Geoffrey Clifton Brown.
Conservative sources said one of the candidates for speaker, Marc Garnier, was not even on the ballot paper and MPs were unable to vote for him, sparking furious accusations of “fraud” on the Conservative WhatsApp platform.
According to sources I“There has been outrage among lawmakers, who are demanding that the vote be overturned and redone at a later date.”
The senior Conservative MP added: “The 1922 Committee has no capacity to organise social events in breweries.”
The issue is of particular concern to backbenchers because the 1922 Speaker plays a key role in setting the rules for future leadership elections.
Party leaders insisted that there would be no re-election.