Leading Tories are preparing to launch a new political movement to bring their party back to the centre ground.
Former West Midlands mayor Sir Andy Street and former Scottish Tory leader Baroness Davidson will urge Kemi Badenoch not to lurch right.
It comes as the Conservatives and Reform UK face pressure to ‘unite the right’ to get rid of Sir Keir Starmer at the next election.
The pair will launch the movement – expected to be called Prosper – on Monday to reclaim seven million ‘politically homeless‘ voters.
It comes after the Tories worst ever election defeat and as it faces an existential crisis due to the rise of Reform.
Tory leader Ms Badenoch suffered a blow after the high-profile defection of Robert Jenrick to her rival.
The movement’s founders insist it is not a new party and will not field candidates at the next election.
It will support Ms Badenoch as leader but help to shape policy and the direction of the party, they told the Sunday Times.
Leading Tories are preparing to launch a new political movement to bring their party back to the centre ground. Pictured: Kemi Badenoch
Andy Street, former mayor of the West Midlands, will urge Kemi Badenoch not to lurch right
Polling from More in Common shows 34 per cent of centrist and centre-right voters say no party represents them, while almost one in three voters overall describe themselves as politically homeless.
Sir Andy, a former John Lewis boss who twice won Labour heartland elections as a Conservative mayor, warned that politics is being squeezed between ‘populists of the left and populists of the right’.
‘The centre ground is being pushed out – and that is completely wrong,’ he said. ‘In Britain, there is still a huge majority of people with centrist views.’
He added that the next election must not boil down to a stark choice between Sir Keir and Nigel Farage.
‘There has to be a different alternative – and, as proud Conservatives, we believe that alternative has to be Kemi Badenoch.’
Baroness Davidson, the popular Scottish Tory leader, insisted the move was not about fuelling internal ‘Tory wars’.
Instead, she said, it was about having ‘honest conversations’ with voters who no longer recognise the party they once supported.
‘We’ve identified seven million people who see themselves as centre or centre-right and feel abandoned,’ she said.
‘Over time, we want them to see that the Conservative Party can be their home again.’
Baroness Ruth Davidson, the popular Scottish Tory leader, insisted the move was not about fuelling internal ‘Tory wars’
The pair argue the party’s rightward drift has failed to stop voters bleeding to Reform while simultaneously alienating moderates who once saw the Tories as a broad church.
Baroness Davidson warned against becoming a pale imitation of Nigel Farage’s party.
‘When political parties start borrowing each other’s clothes, they just look inauthentic,’ she said.
‘Why choose ‘I can’t believe it’s not butter’ when butter is sitting right there?’
