A secret internal review of the Liberal Party's 2016 election performance has urged the executive to recognise that campaigning must never stop and the party's conservative base needs to be respected.

The review, conducted by former Liberal federal director and cabinet minister Andrew Robb, also says the party must be financially solid to be effective and improve its connection with ethnic voters, according to a version published by the Daily Telegraph.

The post-mortem has been delivered to the Liberal federal executive and viewed by the parliamentary leaders in the wake of the election that saw the Turnbull government lose 14 seats and narrowly hold on to power. Labor is now in an election-winning position according to widespread polling.

The review argues the party needs to "recognise and respond to the fact that the next campaign effectively begins the day after polling day" and establish a structured research operation that provides politicians with a "continuous understanding of community sentiment" towards policy.