A recruitment drive for new candidates from outside London and the south east will start to find the “very best people”. Candidate assessments will be carried out at the party’s base in Leeds.

All new candidates would have to pass four key tests covering “sound Conservative disposition, good judgement, integrity and life experience” to demonstrate that they are Tories.

Mr Dowden said: “We need people to believe in the Conservative Party, but I don’t mean you have to have pounded the streets for 25 years – although I very much welcome that.”

He defined “Conservative values” as examples of “Thatcher, hard work, aspiration, getting on with life. I’ve never believed the Conservative Party stood for knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing.”

He added: “Equally important to conservatism is the ‘c’ in conservatism preserving the things that we cherish”. That included “beautiful towns and villages”, the monarchy, countryside and “the great traditions of our nation”, he said.

Mr Dowden, 43, took over as the Conservative chairman in September last year with the job of preparing the party for the next general election, likely to be in 2024.

He took aim at opponents who have criticised the party for legitimately taking cash from donors with Russian backgrounds in light of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

He said: “If they’re saying that somebody who was born in Ukraine or born in Russia but is now a British citizen and utterly despises what Putin is doing to Ukraine is somehow precluded from participating in our national life because of their nationality at birth.

“Would they say that about somebody that was born in India? Would they say that about somebody that was born in Pakistan? Labour needs to think carefully about that.”

Mr Dowden, who was Culture Secretary before moving to Conservative Central Office, dismissed calls for orchestras to stop playing music by Russian composers.

“I don’t think we should be in the business of attacking rich Russian cultural heritage,” he said. “I would say the same thing about the rich Chinese heritage.

“They are great nations of the world. The sad thing about Russia is that it is currently led by somebody that is a despotic tyrant, and his true colours have been shown during this crisis.”

• Listen to the full interview with Oliver Dowden on Chopper’s Politics, The Telegraph’s weekly political podcast, using the audio player at the top of this article or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcast app