Tory hopefuls hit by the curse of Cameron

Oh dear. After last week’s bruising defeat for the Conservatives, the party has been left looking for a new leader and a way to win back voters. With only 121 seats, the Tory party has lost a number of key figures – and just last night, it was revealed that both party chairman Richard Holden and ex-foreign secretary Lord Cameron were stepping down.

The Tory peer was a controversial addition to the cabinet last year when Rishi Sunak gave him the foreign brief – but was the ex-PM as helpful a choice as Sunak might have hoped for during campaign season? It transpires that every candidate Lord Cameron chose to feature in the beginning of a campaign video released on Twitter, um, lost their contest. Talk about the kiss of death…

From former Cheltenham MP Alex Chalk to Robert Buckland in Swindon South, the former foreign sec managed to coordinate with a series of losers on the campaign trail – and it appears the ex-PM’s charm wasn’t enough to sway constituents. With a leadership contest on the cards and potential candidates steadying themselves to run for the top job, the Tory party looks set for more turmoil as decisions are made by a decimated group. Lord Cameron likely wishes he’d been a little more persuasive… 

Watch the clip here:

Vote Conservative today to keep strong Conservative voices in Parliament.

Here are some of those I campaigned with in twenty eight constituency visits over the last few weeks. pic.twitter.com/9Q8uN3PR39

— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) July 4, 2024

Featured candidates are listed here…

1. Meg Powell-Chandler, who stood in Wells and Mendip Hills
2. Sara Britcliffe, who stood in Hyndburn
3. Julian Sturdy, who stood in York Outer
4. Alex Chalk, who stood in Cheltenham
5. Andrew Jones, who stood in Harrogate and Knaresborough
6. Robert Buckland, who stood in Swindon South
7. Richard Graham, who stood in Gloucester
8. Selaine Saxby, who stood in North Devon