Tory leadership contender James Cleverly has told how his party can win back a string of seats in London with a pro-growth agenda which appeals to young people’s hopes of good jobs and a home.
The Tories ended up with zero MPs in Inner London on July 5 after suffering a crushing election defeat.
Overall, Labour won 59 seats in the capital, with the Tories reduced to just nine, only three more than the Liberal Democrats.
The dismal results for the Conservatives have sparked a debate over how the Conservatives can reverse their trend of losses in the city.
Asked by The Standard how the Tories could achieve this, former Home Secretary Mr Cleverly said: “If you are going to win in London you need to make sure that you have a credible offer for younger people.”
The Lewisham-born ex-member of the Greater London Assembly added: “I know how to win in London because I’ve helped someone do it twice against expectation...”
He told how he had been warned by Tories in London not to get “associated” with Boris Johnson because he was a “vote loser” before the latter was elected Mayor in 2008.
Again, he was advised that Mr Johnson’s victory was a “fluke” and that he would not get re-elected but he backed him and he won a second term in City Hall.
“So I know we can win in London,” added former Foreign Secretary Mr Cleverly.
“You need to have a positive offer, an entrepreneurial offer, an offer for young people that they can have not just jobs but good jobs., not just good jobs but a chance to get on the housing ladder, a chance to support their families.
“This is a thoroughly Conservative agenda. It’s what Margaret Thatcher did when I was a kid.”
He emphasised further: “When I say Lewisham East had a Conservative MP, people are amazed, but it can be done.
“But we have to be relentlessly positive, we have got to have a pro-growth agenda and respect all entrepreneurialism in society.”
At the election, the Conservatives lost Chelsea and Fulham, Cities of London and Westminster, and Kensington and Bayswater, their last three seats in Inner London.
In Outer London, they lost Chipping Barnet, which had been held by former Cabinet minister Theresa Villiers, Finchley and Golders Green, and Bexleyheath and Crayford to Labour.
Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith held on in Chingford and Woodford Green, Chris Philp in Croydon South, as did Julia Lopez in Hornchurch and Upminster, and Gareth Bacon in Orpington.
The Conservatives also retained Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner, Harrow East, Romford, Old Bexley and Sidcup, and Bromley and Biggin Hill.
But the Lib Dems gained Wimbledon, Carshalton and Wallington, and Sutton and Cheam from the Tories.
During a keynote speech during his pitch to become the next leader of the Conservative Party, Mr Cleverly said his priorities would be to boost national security, reduce migration and restore “confidence in capitalism”.
He committed to spend three per cent of GDP on defence if he became Prime Minister, as well as cutting taxes, by scaling back public spending.
“You cannot penny-pinch your way to peace. Security is delivered through strength. By planning for the worst, not hoping for the best,” he said.
“We will send a signal to our enemies that the British are prepared. We will not leave the field.”
Mr Cleverly also vowed to abolish stamp duty and bring the welfare budget down while being “honest about the trade-offs”.
The field of six candidates - which also includes Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Dame Priti Patel, Tom Tugendhat and Mel Stride - will be whittled down to four by the time of the Conservative conference at the end of the month.
After that, MPs will carry out further rounds of voting to select two final candidates for the Conservative members to choose between, with the result announced on November 2.
