In his victory speech, Badenoch said it was time for his party to “tell the truth” to voters, in order to win back those who deserted it in July’s general election.

Despite her promise to reach people across the political landscape, Huddleston, who is the newly formed constituency’s first MP, said he did not think she would seek a deal with Reform UK.

“Reform is a force to be reckoned with, but I think when we focus on core values, we have a proposition and we show that we deserve to win elections again, we will be able not only to win back Reform voters, but also take votes from Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the Greens and elsewhere.

“It’s also about character and leadership.”

Speaking about Badenoch’s first priorities as leader, Huddleston said the party must focus on “core values”.

“I think what we’re going to do is focus on what it means to be conservative and make policies accordingly, because she now has a huge responsibility,” he said.

“We need to hold this government to account, but we also need to prepare the government ourselves and we will do that over the next few years.”