The blame game has already begun within the Conservative Party, as the party prepares to face the most catastrophic defeat in its history in just one week.
With seven days to go, polls show the Conservative Party is on the verge of extinction and is likely to have fewer than 100 MPs elected.
While different groups pointed fingers behind the scenes for months before the election, senior figures are now breaking ranks to make up their minds before most voters cast their ballots.
The first to emerge from the trap was former cabinet minister Nadine Dorries, who told The Independent that she held Michael Gove responsible for the malaise that has arisen over the last 14 years, and demanded that he too should not sit on the Lords, as she had refused one.
“Gove has been in cabinet longer than any current or former Conservative Party MP since 2010,” he said.
“This general election will be a decision about Michael Gove and his think tanks Onward and Policy Exchange, rather than a decision about any incumbent or former prime minister.”
Former Culture Secretary Dorries has never forgiven Mr Gove for twice “betraying” Boris Johnson after the 2016 EU referendum and then the Partygate affair.
But he also believes the policy platforms of two think tanks close to him are at the heart of the Tory nightmare, due to his anger at the Sunak government’s “big government, big tax, big regulation approach”.
Ms Dorries said: “Gove has repeatedly stabbed democratically elected Prime Ministers in the back – Boris in 2016 and 2022 and Liz in 2022 – and has chosen the socialist option over the conservative option at every opportunity. That’s why we’re falling behind in the polls.
“This torture must not continue after July 4th. He must never be allowed to represent the Conservative Party again, and at all times, those who believe in conservatism and democracy must beware of his influence and dark arts when the battle for leadership begins.”
Policy Exchange and Onward have been contacted but have not responded. A source close to Mr Gove said: “Michael wishes Nadine all the best for the future.”
His intervention came amid speculation that Lord David Cameron would be appointed interim leader while he decides what changes are needed to the party’s rules after a crushing defeat and how it wants to move forward with a new permanent leader. But a source close to the foreign secretary described it as “complete nonsense”.
There are concerns that even if the Conservative Party is left with just a handful of MPs, ordinary members could be completely excluded from the process of choosing the next leader.
Former 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady confirmed Tory MPs who helped draft the leadership contest rules would be on hand to advise the successor committee.
But Ms Dorries is not the only one to lay out the reasons for the party’s worst failure in its 346-year history.
Brexiteers and allies of former prime minister Liz Truss plan to highlight failures to leave the EU, cut taxes and leave the ECHR.
They point to the “chasm left on the right” by the party, which saw millions of voters leave the Conservative Party, for Nigel Farage and Reform UK to fill.
Right-wingers such as Suella Braverman and Jacob Rees-Mogg have previously expressed agreement with many of Reform’s policies.
Meanwhile, Thatcher’s veteran Brexit supporter Sir John Redwood confirmed that he had written an article explaining why the Sunak government had failed.
But Conservative MPs on the party’s centre-wing and One Nation wings fear that a shift to the right has already proven to be detrimental to the Conservatives this election.
Former minister Tobias Ellwood, who is running for the Bournemouth East seat, said: Independent: “From Disraeli to Baldwin, Churchill to Thatcher, our great party has always been successful when we appeal to wider voters beyond our base. That is what our Prime Minister is trying to do. Moving to the right – a guaranteed recipe for opposition.”
“Let’s demonstrate the center-right state approach that has benefited us so much in the past.”
However, in response to briefings from the One Nation Conservatives that Brexit was the issue that was destroying the party, former Brexit minister and vice-chair of the European Research Group David Jones hit back.
He said: “Brexit didn’t go wrong. We’ve regained our sovereignty (but NI is still waiting to be resolved). Remainers still can’t face up to the fact that the public have rejected the EU.
“Instead of whining, they should work hard to make sure Brexit delivers economic benefits. We’re already seeing excellent trade deals. More are to come. Remember we’ve been stuck in the EU for half a century, so Brexit was never going to be an overnight project.” “
This was compared to the 1997 debacle under John Major, which resulted in the second-worst defeat ever to Tony Blair.
But Sir Malcolm Rifknd, who was Major’s foreign secretary, said there were significant differences between the two leaders.
He is also clear, like many in the One Nation Group, that Boris Johnson and Liz Truss are responsible for the impending defeat.
He told The Independent: “The main similarity to the 1997 government was that we were in power for too long!
“But there are two fundamental differences. First of all, Starmer is not Blair. He is boring, but that may not stop him winning. Attlee’s defeat of Churchill in 1945 was not due to his charisma.
“The other difference is the legacy of Johnson and Truss. Neither was fit to be prime minister. Major was defeated but also respected by the public. Sunak’s integrity was recognised but the battle was lost before he became prime minister.”
Many more senior Tories are expected to go public within a week, especially with the prospect of a leadership contest in full swing.
Although different groups will try to blame each other, it is not yet clear who will survive as leadership candidates. Favorites Kemi Badenoch and Penny Mordaunt are both vulnerable to defeat.