Tories should change their name, says Conservatives’ election guru Lynton Crosby

Veteran election strategist Sir Lynton Crosby said ‘Tory’ had become a dirty word

Election strategist Sir Lynton Crosby (PA)

“Tory” is a dirty word and the Conservative Party should stop using it, election guru Sir Lynton Crosby has said.

The long-standing election strategist, who has been behind two decades of Conservative election campaigns, said Tory has become “a pejorative term”.

Ahead of the election of Rishi Sunak’s successor on Saturday, Mr Crosby said: “They ought to call themselves Conservatives and not abbreviate it to Tories. I think ‘Tory’ has become a pejorative term … Labour would never call themselves the Socialists.”

He added: “I’d focus on reward for effort, aspiration, personal responsibility, national unity … I would focus on those five or six values.”

And he told The Australian that whoever wins will need a new approach and should aim to establish a “values differential” to set them apart from other parties.

Mr Crosby’s intervention comes ahead of the announcement of the new Tory leader, as the four-month battle to replace the former PM comes to a close.

The winner will be at the helm as the party looks to recover from the July election result which saw it return just 121 MPs. Senior party figures including shadow chancellor Jeremy Hunt and shadow home secretary James Cleverly have said they do not want to serve on the new leader’s front bench.

After the close of polls on Thursday, both candidates thanked their backers for their support through the contest.

Ms Badenoch described the party as a "family" and said that it is "much more to me than a membership organisation".

Mr Jenrick also called for the party to "move past the drama" of recent years and "unite".

Rishi Sunak’s successor will be chosen on Saturday (House of Commons)

"Together we can put an end to the excuses, move past the drama, and unite our party," he wrote on X.

Immigration, the economy, and how the Conservatives can rebuild trust with the electorate and win back voters they lost at the election have all been discussed at length through the campaign.

The party lost seats to Labour, the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK in the July poll.

Dame Priti Patel, Mel Stride, Tom Tugendhat and James Cleverly spent the summer campaigning alongside Mr Jenrick and Ms Badenoch after they put their names forward in the nominations at the end of July.

Dame Priti and Mr Stride were the first two contenders to be eliminated in September, leaving four by the time the party gathered in Birmingham for its autumn conference at the end of the month.

While the candidates spent four days vying to secure votes, both Ms Badenoch and Mr Jenrick found themselves embroiled in rows during the conference.

Ms Badenoch ended up asserting her support for maternity pay after comments caused a controversy.

Meanwhile, Mr Jenrick faced heat from other leadership rivals over claims he made about UK special forces.