Tory civil war erupts after 'bloodbath' as members moan about 'Boris-shaped hole' in party
The charismatic former Conservative leader could only watch from the sidelines as the Tories suffered a phenomenal drubbing at the ballot box.
Conservative political movers and shakers are soul-searching today after an ignominious loss to Labour at the ballot box, with some claiming the party has a "Boris-shaped hole" that needs to be filled.
In the wake of a humiliating loss to Sir Keir Starmer's Labour, senior Tory sources have issued a rallying cry invoking the memory of Boris Johnson, who delivered such a massive majority at the 2019 election.
Labour romped home with 412 seats when the results were counted on Friday, compared with the Conservatives on 121 and the Liberal Democrats on a record 71.
But analysis of the total vote share has revealed Nigel Farage's Reform UK party took a massive 14.3 percent, actually finishing above the Liberal Democrats nationally in third place.
The huge result for Reform placed the party second in an astonishing 98 constituencies and the votes for Mr Farage's protest party took a huge bite out of both Labour and Conservative support.
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One Conservative ex-Cabinet minister told MailOnline Labour acheived such a resounding victory because of a "Boris-shaped hole" in the Conservative campaign defences.
The former minister claimed Reform UK walked through the election "unchallenged" and that the Tory loss was "brought about by our own MP's actions and a s*** campaign for no good reason".
In a dire day for the Conservatives, many party stalwarts and even potential leadership contenders lost their seats, including Penny Mordaunt in Portsmouth
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Former PM Liz Truss was stunned when she lost her seat in South West Norfolk and blamed her colleagues for not delivering "sufficiently on the policies people want".
However, some Conservatives held on to their seats, including the former prime minister Rishi Sunak and the ex-chancellor Jeremy Hunt, the latter of whom campaigned relentlessly in his home constituency on local issues in recent weeks.
From the Right of the Tory party, Suella Braverman also held her seat and has emerged as a potential successor to Mr Sunak.
Mrs Braverman said the party had let the British people down. She said: "You, the great British people, voted for us over 14 years and we did not keep our promises, I will do everything in my power to rebuild trust.
"We need to listen to you, you have spoken to us very clearly."
