Liz Truss and Michael Gove lead the Tory great and good putting on a brave face at glamorous Spectator party - after Kemi Badenoch 'rips into' Rishi Sunak at shadow cabinet meeting over election disaster
A week is a long time in politics.
But just five days after losing her South West Norfolk seat in an astonishing 'Portillo' moment, a smiling Liz Truss returned to Westminster on Tuesday night.
This time, however, the former prime minister was only back for the glamorous Spectator Magazine party, which was hosted at their London offices just a stone's throw from the Houses of Parliament.
Hours after a triumphant Sir Keir Starmer paraded his 411 Labour MPs in the Commons, Ms Truss put on a brave face as she strutted into the summer bash with fellow Tories Michael Gove, Kemi Badenoch, Priti Patel and Claire Coutinho.
Labour grandee Peter Mandelson, who described Sir Keir's majority as an 'electoral meteor' which had 'struck planet Earth', was also in attendance with other party members including new Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson.
Sir Keir was not present, having jetted off to Washington DC for a Nato summit - his first international visit as Prime Minister.
Reform UK's Nigel Farage and Richard Tice were at the party, however, and appeared in good spirits after securing five seats in the Commons, while broadcasters Piers Morgan and Andrew Marr also joined Westminster's elite.
Conservative bigwigs, joined by Holly Valance's husband and Tory donor Nick Candy, arrived at the party just hours after Rishi Sunak's first Shadow Cabinet meeting descended into chaos after leadership hopeful Ms Badenoch 'ripped into' him over the election.
Former Prime Minister Liz Truss arrives at the Spectator summer party - days after losing her South West Norfolk seat
Michael Gove, who did not stand at the general election, was also seen arriving in the pouring rain
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was in good spirits after his party won five seats in Westminster
Tory leadership hopeful Kemi Badenoch also attended - hours after hitting out at Rishi Sunak over the election
Former Home Secretary Priti Patel, who did manage to keep hold of her seat, was all smiles as she left the summer bash
The shadow communities secretary said his decision not to inform Opposition frontbenchers before calling the July 4 poll bordered on 'unconstitutional', while his early return from D-Day commemorations cost colleagues their seats.
The Times reported that she also branded Craig Williams, who bet on the election date, a 'buffoon' and said Suella Braverman was having a 'very public' nervous breakdown.
It came as Lord Frost called for an interim leader to prevent 'mudslinging' in the leadership race, while James Cleverly warned against 'bitter infighting'.
Mr Cleverly has been appointed to shadow his former role of home secretary in the former prime minister's interim shadow cabinet after Labour's landslide win saw the Conservatives net their worst ever election result.
The party needs to conduct a 'sensible post mortem on what went wrong and finding the right path forwards', Mr Cleverly wrote in The Times.
He wrote: 'As we do this we must remember two vital things. Firstly, it cannot descend into bitter infighting and finger pointing. That is exactly how we ended up here.'
A narrower offer will not win back voters that have been lost to the left or right, Mr Cleverly warned.
He said: 'We must get our act together. We need to unite in order to deliver.
Labour grandee Peter Mandelson was celebrating the party's landslide win on Thursday night
Tory donor and husband of Holly Valance, Nick Candy, was seen chatting on the phone as he left the bash
Claire Coutinho smiled as she left the party - after being appointed UK shadow energy secretary following the Tory defeat
Broadcaster Piers Morgan joined Westminster's elite at the summer Spectator party on Tuesday night
Labour's new Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson was in the mood to celebrate
'It will take humility and hard work, to recover our reputation for competence and integrity, to rebuild trust in our party, and unite behind a broad platform that will give people a reason to vote Conservative again.'
Right-wingers and more moderate Tories are expected to battle it out for the top job in a contest that could shape the party for years to come.
Mr Sunak last week announced he would step down as party leader once the formal arrangements for choosing a successor are in place.
If he throws his hat in the ring, Mr Cleverly could face competition from high-profile right-wingers Ms Braverman and Ms Badenoch.
Dame Priti Patel, who served as home secretary between July 2019 and September 2022, Robert Jenrick, who previously served as immigration minister and ex-health secretary Victoria Atkins could also put themselves forward.
Jeremy Hunt, a centrist figure in the party, has ruled out running.
Tory MPs usually vote to select the top two candidates to put forward as potential leaders, with the party membership choosing the ultimate winner.
Sir Keir Starmer paraded his 411 MPs at the Houses of Commons on Tuesday afternoon
He was not at the Spectator bash because he was jetting off to his first international trip with his wife Victoria on Tuesday night
Mr Starmer speaks to journalists as he heads to Washington DC to attend a Nato summit
However, the rules and timeline of the race would be set out by the backbench 1922 Committee, which has elected Bob Blackman as its new chair.
Ms Braverman meanwhile has hit out at 'liberal Conservatives' at an event in Washington DC and at a Popular Conservatism event in London said that Reform UK is an 'existential threat' to the Tories.
Ex-Tory MP Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg was also at the event and spoke of the need to win back voters from Reform, which won five seats, including Clacton in Essex for leader Nigel Farage.
Ms Braverman, appearing via a recorded video, said of the loss of her party's 80-seat majority from 2019: 'We were going to stop the wave of illegal migrants landing on our shores. We were going to cut taxes.
'We were going to stop the lunatic woke virus working its way through the British state.
'The harsh reality - this is a lesson we all need to learn and face up to - is that we did none of that.'
Lord Frost, who was the UK's chief Brexit negotiator, said the party must not be 'rushed' in selecting a new leader.
His comments were later echoed by Lord Hague, the former Tory leader, who said it was 'better to get it right than to end up going around in circles'.
Lord Frost warned against 'descending into the mudslinging of a rushed leadership election', telling the event event: 'I can't see why we shouldn't have an interim leader and time to debate things properly.'
Speaking to the architects of the election defeat, he said: 'Those who decided upon the political strategy that got us here, those who stuck to it in the face of clear evidence it was failing and those who then slandered and tried to kneecap their opponents in the party, they need to get off the stage as soon as possible and let the rest of us move on.'
The Tories made a net loss of 251 seats at the election last week, leaving the party with 121 MPs.
Labour won a landslide with 412 MPs, ousting several senior Tory figures including Sir Jacob, former Commons leader Penny Mordaunt, defence secretary Grant Shapps and ex-prime minister Liz Truss.
She added: 'Historically in British politics, we have had a monopoly on the right-wing vote.
'That's one of the reasons we have been so successful.
'The left, by contrast, for the last 100 years has been split.
'Left wing have had a choice of party to go for and we by contrast have had the luxury of a monopoly, but no longer, and that is why the Reform party presents an existential threat to us electorally.'
