FORMER MP Tobias Ellwood has said he wants to be “very much” part of the Conservative party’s rebuild following its disastrous election defeat. 

The MP for Bournemouth East between 2005 and 2024 said his party – which lost all but two seats in Dorset – must move away from far-right politics. 

He said it “alienates” most of the country in much the same way the far-left wing Jeremy Corbyn did during the 2019 election. 

Speaking to the Echo, Mr Ellwood said: “I very much want to be part of the regrouping, the reforming and learning the lessons of why we lost so catastrophically. 

“It was the worst election the party’s ever witnessed and there's a lot of rebuilding to do and that requires a sense of humility, a sense of resolve, a sense of purpose. 

“We need to be honest about the mistakes that were made; the party must want to be led, and we must fundamentally agree what our party stands for, where we sit in the political spectrum and where we want to take the country and we’re not there yet.” 

Mr Ellwood, a reserve soldier for the British Army, said during his closing speech on election night that he would have liked to one day lead the party. 

But that won’t be happening any time soon, he said. He would first need to get his seat back in Parliament – which he is expected to run for again come the next election. 

The 58-year-old claimed the problems with the Conservative party was “rival agendas” between MPs and ill-discipline making the party “too fractious”. 

“We'd actually navigated the country into comma political waters, the economy was improving, but that mattered little; the damage was already done and the trust with the British nation had been breached,” he said. 

“Despite 18 months where Rishi Sunak steadied the ship, we didn't look like a party that wanted to stay in government. 

“Even today, it's still unclear as to what our great party stands for. The Conservatives are a great party when we get things right, when we put the nation’s interests first and go for the centre ground. 

“But when we move to the extreme, as Labour proved with Corbyn, you alienate much of Britain and you don't have the numbers to get across the line.” 

Mr Ellwood told the Echo that the party’s next leader should emulate the likes of Baldwin, Thatcher and Churchill – all leaders who “kept the party united and put the nation first”. 

“We need to appeal to all age groups, not just those over the age of 70. We need to be looking at solutions that takes our nation forward in four years' time, not immediately today because nobody's listening to us right now, so us shouting however good the policy might be, the nation is not listening. 

“And in four years' time, economically, security-wise, even our relationships with friends and foes, Britain's going to look so different. Our relationship with Europe will look so different than it does today.”