I personally think that the Conservative Party is in as deep a mess as Labour. Instead of the wokie bros of the other parties, local association activists tend to be aging Tory boys, who still think Liz Truss would be better than Rishi, and yearn for the return of Boris.
People talk about how some years in the wilderness would be good for the Tories and allow them time to regroup. I disagree. What British politics really needs is for good sensible people to become active at grassroot in whatever party most closely fits their political views. At the Westminster debate we saw Rosie Duffield working with Miriam Cates. Scratch below the surface and there will be lots of areas on which they have wildly different views. However I expect/hope that they will recognise a level of honesty and courage. Ditto people like Shahrir Ali and Emma Bateman of the Greens.
I know someone who has just been adopted by Labour as a candidate. She is from a political dynasty, studied politics at University and has wanted to be an MP since she was young. She is happy to confide that she does not believe that TWAW, but "obviously she could never say this publically". Nothing but nothing is going to get in the way of her ambition. And unfortunately there is probably no one in her local constituency party to call her out.
Having the Mail, who understand their readership, reminding the Tories that they should be mindful of voter concerns, is not a bad thing. Even if the illiberal illiberal of the chattering classes may be saying something different.