Conservative Party is a 'failing organisation', admits Tory MP

Says party lacked 'convincing narrative about Jeremy Corbyn, beyond demonisation and vilification'

Bernard Jenkin has been elected to chair the Commons public administration committee (Chris Ison/PA Archive)

The Conservative Party is a "failing organisation, which is beset by an atmosphere of crisis," a senior Tory MP has said.

In an analysis of why Theresa May failed to win the majority she wanted in the general election, Bernard Jenkin criticised the party's over reliance on soundbites.

In a report for the backbench 1922 committee, Mr Jenkin said problems were compounded by an "underlying malaise" at the party HQ.

“In a failing organisation, which is beset by an atmosphere of crisis, it can be very difficult to talk truthfully about why things have gone wrong,” he wrote.

“People within the organisation can feel very inhibited and fearful, particularly if there is an atmosphere of blame.

“There tend to be lots of meetings where things going wrong are discussed, and decisions are agreed, but the people then leave those meetings and privately tell their friends why the decisions taken will not work.

"And the people at the very top of the organisation are the very last to know that things are still going wrong, because people do not tell them, or they cannot listen or hear what is being said.

"It is likely that anyone who has worked in CCHQ during the past few months will recognise some or all of these characteristics.”

Mr Jenkin, who was elected unopposed as chairman of the Commons public administration committee yesterday, also lamented the party's failure to attract enough voters under the age of 45.

He noted the party has fewer members than the leftwing Labour campaign group Momentum.

The Harwich and North Essex MP also attacked the party for lacking a "convincing narrative about Jeremy Corbyn, beyond demonisation and vilification".

He went on to call for a new mission statement with a fresh set of values in order to reboot the party and "challenge the misconceptions that we are 'the party of the rich'".