Tory party needs Dunkirk spirit to win, says Heseltine

Michael Heseltine has issued a rallying cry to the Conservative Party, warning that it is “fighting for its life” and needs to focus on attacking the enemy.

- DAVID MADDOX

The intervention by a former deputy prime minister – who was at the heart of the Tories’ most unlikely victory in 1992 – comes as the polls are predicting a Canadian-style wipeout of the party.

Tory MPs fear that the fate of the Canadian Conservatives in 1993, when they went into the election as the government and were left with just two seats, could be their fate in 2024.

But Lord Heseltine urged the party to “learn the lesson” from the spirit of El Alamein – the pivotal Second World War battle where the fortunes of Britain and her allies finally turned around and the apparently inevitable victory of Adolf Hitler was stopped in its tracks.

His intervention has been made at a crucial point in the general election campaign after Rishi Sunak’s appalling mistake in leaving the D-Day commemorations early. It also comes as:

• Senior ministers are already engaging in a phantom leadership contest to replace Mr Sunak, believing the election is lost

• Cabinet minister Mel Stride denied Mr Sunak wants to quit before the election

• A poll suggests that the Tories could be left with 37 seats according to a Deltapoll survey

• Polling guru and Tory peer Lord Hayward’s analysis suggests that the Tories can stave off a wipeout

• Former leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith is leading demands for policies – including ending inheritance tax for middle earners – which will shore up the Tory vote and diminish the threat from Nigel Farage

• Four right-wing Tory MPs have signed up to another political party’s pledges and accepted its donations