John Redwood accuses Rishi Sunak of helping to deliver large Labour majority as Tory blame game escalates

Exclusive: Former Conservative cabinet minister hits out at his party’s leadership days before polls open

A former Tory cabinet minister has accused Rishi Sunak of helping to ensure a large Labour victory as the Tory blame game escalates before even a single vote has been cast.

John Redwood hit out at what he called the ‘One Nation leadership’ of his party.

He said that together with Nigel Farage’s Reform, if they polls are correct, they will “visit on us” a Labour government “that may have a lower vote share than Labour led by Jeremy Corbyn... but have a large majority of MPs giving it a lot of potential power.”

However, that would only hold if Labour “can keep its party together”, he added.

Sir John Redwood (Getty Images)

A shock poll last week put Mr Farage’s Reform three points ahead of the Conservatives.

Although unlikely to take more than a handful of seats, Tory MPs fear they will split the right wing vote, handing many constituencies to Labour.

Opinion polls also suggest Keir Starmer’s party is on course to a handsome victory on Thursday, with some forecasting the party could even have a larger parliamentary majority than Tony Blair in 1997.

Some Brexiteers are furious that what they see as a “gulf” on the right of the party that has left Mr Farage and Reform to potentially take millions of voters from the Tories.

Right-wingers like Suella Braverman and Jacob Rees-Mogg have already said they agree with many of Reform’s policies.

As polling day nears many Conservatives are gearing up to set out what they think went wrong.

Nadine Dorries has claimed the election ‘will be a verdict on Michael Gove’ and think tanks (Jeff Overs/BBC/PA) (PA Media)

Last week former cabinet minister Nadine Dorries  was first out of the traps, telling The Independent she blames Michael Gove for a malaise that has set in over the last 14 years.

“This general election will be a verdict on Michael Gove and his think tanks, Onward and Policy Exchange, more than a verdict on any serving or former prime minister,” she said.

She added: “Gove has repeatedly stabbed democratically elected Prime Ministers in the back - Boris in 2016 and 22, and Liz in 22 - and at every turn he’s chosen the socialist rather than the conservative option. This is why we’re behind in the polls.

On his blog, Mr Redwood wrote: “Labour is forecast to have a huge majority of MPs. Why?

“There is a frustration that the two parties (Labour and Conservative) are so alike. They both backed Covid lockdowns. They both backed printing large sums of money which proved inflationary...They have both presided over large increases in NHS waiting lists, Labour in Wales and Conservatives in England. They both backed the Windsor framework limiting the opportunities of Brexit. Neither proposed a good pruning of EU bureaucracy and regulations. Both allowed large scale migration.”

He added: “The result of the combined actions of Reform and the One Nation Conservative leadership if the polls are right will be to visit on us a Labour government that may have a lower vote share than Labour led by Jeremy Corbyn gained in 2017  but have a large majority of MPs giving it a lot of potential power if it can keep its party together.”