Conservatives must be confident in their values, Siobhan Baillie told her party in a speech this week.

The Tory candidate for Stroud MP has also said she opposes a second referendum on Brexit after her predecessor, Neil Carmichael, continued pushing for the Conservatives to back one.

Ms Baillie addressed delegates in Birmingham, beginning by saying the UK’s reduced deficit, low unemployment, and higher exports were due to the party’s economic policy.

“We must be confident in our Conservative principles and values,” she said on Monday.

“It is our approach to the economy based on those principles and values that has allowed us to reduce the deficit by three quarters, cut employment to the lowest level since the seventies, increase exports of British goods and see the number of businesses rise by 1.2m.”

In her speech Ms Baillie, who was selected to run in Stroud earlier this year, also cited her work as a family lawyer - an experience, she argued, that has enabled her to understand how financial pressures at home damage relationships.

“I want people to know the Conservatives are always listening. We want families to thrive.”

On the same day Stroud’s previous MP, Neil Carmichael, sat on a panel with other Conservatives who want a referendum on the final Brexit deal, including backbencher Anna Soubry and former education secretary Justine Greening.

“We really need to return the Brexit deal to the people and get their endorsement on what happens next,” he explained to the SNJ after the Conservatives for a People’s Vote event.

He also said he was "proud" Ms Baillie had been selected as his successor to fight the Stroud seat in Parliament. 

When we asked for her view, Ms Baillie told the SNJ she opposes another referendum on Brexit.

She said: “I do not support a second referendum as the focus needs to be on securing a good deal with the EU that protects jobs and prosperity in Stroud, the Valleys and the Vale.

“The British people voted to leave the EU and it is essential for democracy and trust that the decision is implemented."

Ms Baillie campaigned for Remain in the 2016 referendum, including by signing a letter opposing Brexit while she was a councillor in London.