We need a Conservative revolution, says Tom Tugendhat

Asked why his party lost the general election in July, Mr Tugendhat pointed to what he called “failed” policies on migration and tax rises.

“But what we fundamentally lost was that ability to have that confidence of the British people, and I’m standing because we need to return our party to the service of the British people.”

He said he wanted to see “the blood of the economy flowing again, so you get that intergenerational fairness – the link between energy of the young and the assets of the old, so you get geography and generations connected”.

On immigration, he said his party should not be “pretending that you can fix migration by withdrawing from a single treaty or changing a single bill”

Mr Tugendhat reiterated his desire to leave parts of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) – a treaty, established in 1950, setting out the rights and freedoms people are entitled to in 46 signatory countries.

He said it was an “extraordinary piece of legal work”, but that 80 years later “things have changed”.

“If we really can’t get the reforms then we need to be prepared to leave – but prepared means actually doing the work in advance.

“This isn’t something we can just tear off the band aid and pretend it has no consequences. It underpins many other treaties and we need to be absolutely ready.”