It is patently obvious what the outcome of the next General Election should be.
It should be a clear majority for Kemi Badenoch and the Conservative Party.
Since taking the reins after a shattering defeat in 2024, Kemi has restored stability and credibility to the party.
And my word, how a Conservative government will be needed after five years of what is proving to be such a disastrous Labour government.
Of course, it will take time for the Conservatives to regain the trust of the public and that is a major challenge for us.
But in the hope that we achieve that, my message to each and every vote ahead of the next election would be ‘vote Conservative!’
But if a True Blue victory is for me the optimal outcome of the next election, there is also a worst-case scenario.
And that is that we wake up on the morning after polling day to the nightmare that by the quirks and peculiarities of our electoral system we are once again stuck with a Labour prime minister.
How a Conservative government will be needed after five years of what is proving to be such a disastrous Labour government, writes Brendan-Clarke Smith
Worse than that, a socialist PM propped by a rag-tag alliance of Sir Ed Davey’s Liberal Democrats and mad Greens led by Zack Polanski.
Just imagine – a coalition of chaos to take us to hell in a handcart!
Sadly, as demonstrated by the Mail on Sunday’s research today, it is more than a possibility if the centre-Right vote is split at the next election.
I know from my own personal experience what two Right-of-centre candidates both standing in the same seat can lead to – a Labour victory.
My Bassetlaw seat today has a Labour MP in good part because of how many votes the Reform candidate took.
That is a real danger if the Conservatives and Reform both field candidates in certain seats and let Labour, Lib Dem or Greens sneak through and win.
That is why I think that in some seats Tory candidates should potentially stand aside in favour of Reform ones.
And yes, if the circumstances are right, Reform candidates should step aside in favour of Conservative hopefuls.
This must be done on a piecemeal, pragmatic basis.
As Kemi has said, there should be no pacts – no formal alliance.
There should no formal merger and no grand exchange of contract between Kemi and Nigel Farage.
No, this should be an emergency response to saving the country from a potentially dreadful scenario.
The country will never forgive us if we allow the left to keep power at the next election, Mr Clarke-Smith (pictured) claims
So, yes to saying ‘the Right must unite’ but for only in specific circumstances in specific seats.
It should be a piecemeal approach, based on the predicted outcomes of individual constituencies as we approach polling day.
Of course, my fervent wish is that come the next General Election, such an arrangement will not be necessary.
I hope that by then, the Conservatives under Kemi will be well on course for an outright victory and a sizeable Commons majority.
I hope that in two year or three years’ time, the right-of-centre voters have rallied back around the Conservative party.
But it would be irresponsible not to plan for a frightening alternative outcome.
My message applies as much to Nigel and it does to Kemi.
Let’s not sleepwalk into a nightmare of letting the Left in once again. The country will never forgive us.
Brendan Clarke-Smith was MP for Bassetlaw from 2010 to 2014.
