Tories 'dropped the ball so badly' at the election

James Cleverly says he is the most experienced Tory leadership candidate

The Conservative party "dropped the ball so badly" at the general election, leadership hopeful James Cleverly said.

The shadow home secretary told BBC Essex his party had to be "the best version of ourselves" to win back voters.

Cleverly also denied being a "continuity candidate" among the four remaining in the contest, stressing he was the most experienced politician.

The Braintree MP spoke ahead of a grilling from Conservative members on the penultimate day of the party conference on Tuesday.

It came after rivals Kemi Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat were questioned on Monday, and ahead of Robert Jenrick's appearance on-stage.

The contest was due to be whittled down to the final two next week.

"I recognise we have a job to do because we did drop the ball so badly at the last general election," Cleverly said.

"All four candidates were ministers in the last government, so we all have got to take it on the chin with regard to what happened."

James Cleverly, Tom Tugendhat, Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick are all in the running to become the next leader of the Conservative party

Cleverly pledged to set the Tories "on a new direction" that reduced taxes, "eased the burden of red tape" and increased productivity.

"I’m going to make sure that we, in a positive, optimistic, forward-focused way, actually promote Conservative values," he added.

The former Home Secretary said he was "very proud" of his time in the Home Office but said "we've got to recognise we did not do enough".

"We need to prove to the British people we would do things different and better when we return to government," he said.

During a Conservative party conference fringe event on Monday, Cleverly said children should not be allowed to "dictate" their gender identity to adults.

He declined to state if, as prime minister, he would ban under-18s making decisions on their gender when asked by the BBC.

However, Cleverly said he was "very, very uncomfortable" with children making life-changing decisions.

"We should be very, very careful about locking in permanent decisions made by people who are still going through the development part of their lives," he added.

"Adults have a duty and a responsibility to help children develop until those children become adults themselves."