Tory blame game already begins with a week to go before polling day

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “This general election will be a verdict on Michael Gove and his think tanks, Onward and Policy Exchange, more than a verdict on any serving or former prime minister.” Ms Dorries,the former culture secretary, has never forgiven Mr Gove for twice “betraying” Boris Johnson after the 2016 EU referendum and then after Partygate. A source close to Mr Gove said: “Michael wishes Nadine all the very best for the future.” Her intervention comes amid speculation that Lord David Cameron will be asked to be an interim leader after a crushing defeat while the party decides what changes are needed to its rules and how it wants to move forward with a new permanent leader. open image in gallery Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron could be an interim leader They point to “gulf left on the right” by the party for Nigel Farage and Reform UK to fill in the election seeing millions of voters defect away from the Tories. “Let’s exhibit the centre-right statecraft which has served us well in the past.” However, responding to briefings from One Nation Tories that Brexit was the problem that hs destroyed the party, former Brexit minister and European Research Group deputy chairman David Jones has hit back.