Conservative MP delivers a damning verdict on the state of his own party

Midland Conservative MP James Morris has delivered a damning verdict on the state of the Tory Party.

He said they were seen as "divided, incompetent and out of touch", needed to "stop squabbling" and had allowed Labour to portray them as "hard-nosed and hard-hearted".

Mr Morris pointed out that he represented the Black Country marginal seat of Halesowen and Rowley Regis, which the Tories had never won before 2010.

But the party was throwing away the progress it had made under former leader David Cameron and was going backwards, he said.

He made the comments in an article for website Conservative Home as Conservatives prepared for their annual conference, taking place in Manchester.

Conservatives succeeded in improving their image with the public under Mr Cameron's leadership but had "gone into reverse", said Mr Morris.

"Through all the upheavals of the last two years we are in danger of losing all those hard-won gains.

"Indeed it could be argued that we have gone into reverse, crashing back to a time when people perceived us as divided, incompetent and out of touch."

Tories needed to show that the Government is improving people's lives and not just focusing on Brexit, he said.

"We need to stop squabbling and start reminding people what Conservatism is all about. We need to communicate our successes better but far more importantly, how we intend to build on them."

But he said the disastrous Conservative general election campaign had allowed Labour to portray the Conservatives as "the bad guys".

Highlighting the so-called dementia tax policy, which meant more people would have to sell their homes to pay for social care, he said: "The ill-thought through manifesto policy on social care, pulled like a rabbit from a hat without warning or debate, re-toxified the Tory brand at a stroke."

Conservatives needed to show they had listened to voters' concerns, he said.

But he added: "Constant division will not allow this to happen, and continuing Cabinet divisions only diminishes further what we stand for in the minds of the public."

Mr Morris said: "Next week we meet in Manchester for our annual conference.

"It is my fervent hope that our Prime Minister uses it as a platform to introduce a well-thought through and revitalised domestic agenda with education, employment, social care and health at its core, to show the public what we really believe in."