Losing It

The 2024 general election produced the worst defeat in the Conservative Party’s history. Five years after winning a commanding majority, the Tories lost half their vote and two thirds of their seats in parliament.In Losing It Michael Ashcroft examines the seismic result and its causes. Drawing on extensive polling and analysis – as well as conversations with voters across the country, who describe in their own words how the Tories squandered not just the election but their reputation for competent government – this is a pitiless account of how the Conservative Party came to be seen by those who elected it to office. Before the Tories can begin any kind of recovery, they need to understand and accept what happened and why. This book sets out the reasons in uncompromising terms.