Suella Braverman has penned a blistering op-ed for The Telegraph, doing the Tories no favours as they make a last-ditch effort before tomorrow’s polls. Declaring the election “over,” Braverman argued the real fight is to save the Tories from extinction, lauding Reform UK and its leader, Nigel Farage:

“Today the grandees – who, remember, bear no responsibility for the fate of the party they have led – lash out at Nigel Farage and Reform. I don’t agree with Mr Farage on everything, but we Tories need to reflect honestly and with humility to ask ourselves how a start-up party, with very little infrastructure, has galvanised the electorate and lured so many of our lifelong supporters?

The Reform phenomenon was predictable, avoidable and is entirely our own fault. This simple fact seems to be lost on my colleagues who have driven our party’s bus off the side of the cliff, while angrily blaming those of us who kept pointing at the obvious signs saying: “Cliff Edge Dead Ahead, Bad for Buses”.

Throughout the campaign, Braverman has suggested the Tories find a way to work with Farage, though that olive branch was quickly rebuffed by the Reform leader, who promised “all marriages were off.” Braverman has been rumoured to have her eyes set on a leadership bid, with her website, suella4leader.co.uk, last updated in June. Is this a not so subtle sign she might defect?

UPDATE: Farage says he backs Braverman’s admission that the Tories deserve to lose votes: “All she’s saying is what we have been saying throughout the campaign. The only logical conclusion you can take from her evisceration of her own party is that if you want to see people in the Commons fighting for the policies she espouses and standing up to Starmer, you need to vote for Reform UK.“