The Conservatives must rebuild their party in an image that will “reconnect with everyone across the country”, a top Tory candidate has argued.

According to the latest polls, the Conservatives are hurtling towards a historic election defeat – but some still believe they can take the fight to Labour.

Tory candidate for the new Mid-Buckinghamshire constituency Greg Smith, who like Gyles Brandreth’s daughter Aphra is contesting a rural seat in the general election, warned it was vital for any potential Labour government to be held to account and properly scrutinised by an effective opposition.

Speaking to the Daily Express just outside the town of Princes Risborough on a warm, midsummer evening one week after the solstice, he said: “The current opinion polls are projecting a Labour mega majority and I’m fighting for every vote in Mid Buckinghamshire to stem the risk of that huge majority.

“It’s vital if there is a Labour government, they have a strong opposition.

“If there is a Labour government, I will come out fighting for our country and play my part in rebuilding the Conservative Party that will reconnect with everyone across our whole United Kingdom to make an exciting Conservative offer for the next General Election.”

Of course, at this late stage in the campaign, Mr Smith’s canvassing team was being highly targeted in terms of which doors they knocked on.

But speaking to voters on the doorstep, there was a sense Mr Smith’s message was starting to cut through.

Walking alongside local Tory councillors was the somewhat more unexpected addition of Ryan-Mark Parsons, 24, the youngest-ever contestant to appear on hit BBC show The Apprentice.

Mr Parsons was clear about his message to young people: “Whatever you do, get out and vote in this election.

“And beyond that come to places like this and canvass. That is what it is all about political activism and especially for young people.”

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Mr Smith vowed to champion the farming community, which forms a vital part of the local Buckinghamshire economy.

He acknowledged more could be done to improve some of the post-Brexit trade deals the UK had struck.

But he pointed out how the Conservative Government was not afraid to pull the plug on talks with Canada after almost two years in a row over beef and cheese.

Britain was not prepared to effectively lower what it saw as higher food standards when it came to Canada’s request for the UK to relax a ban on hormone-treated beef.

The UK took issue with the eye-watering 245% import taxes Canada was imposing on British cheese.

Mr Smith said: “We were not afraid to walk away from trade talks with Canada over hormone-injected beef.

“We cannot throw our farmers under a bus.

“We must ensure our premium produce is exported into new markets to ensure greater incomes for our farmers.”

Fighting for British farmers meant protecting them from being undercut while maintaining the highest standards of animal welfare, Mr Smith argued.

He said: “You have to look at each case around the realism of it. A lot gets thrown around about the Australia trade deal.

“But in reality, they barely got near their quota before we had the trade deal and there is not that much evidence of Australian meat coming into the UK market.

“And if that does change then we will have to take some level of action.”

“So long as our supermarkets are not flooded with cheap Australian meat, then we need to be clear about the benefits of striking new trade deals around the world.”