Tory leadership: James Cleverly tops MP ballot as Tom Tugendhat knocked out October 8, 2024 James Cleverly has topped the latest MP ballot to take over as Tory leader, with rival candidate Tom Tugendhat being eliminated from the race. Former home and foreign secretary Cleverly received 39 votes from Tory MPs in the latest round of voting in the race to replace Rishi Sunak as leader. He overtook fellow hopeful [...]
Let’s be honest… the Conservatives are deluded October 3, 2024 The Conservative Party is enjoying the sugar rush of a leadership campaign, but the grim reality of opposition will soon sink in, says Matthew Lesh The vibe at the Conservative Party conference this week in Birmingham was chipper. Well-lubricated members excitedly shuffled between drinks receptions headlined by the four leadership contenders. There were impromptu rallies, [...]
The ECHR is a vital guarantor of our freedom October 3, 2024 Far from endangering our freedoms, the ECHR makes the individual, not the state, the centre of the international order, says Sam Fowles An immutable law of modern politics is that the louder a politician bloviates about “freedom” the more authoritarian they will be in power. The last government waxed lyrical about “freedom of speech” then [...]
All you missed in the Tory leadership speeches: Badenoch dubbed ‘arrogant’, Cleverly wants party to be ‘normal’ October 2, 2024 Tory leadership candidate James Cleverly has urged his party to “be more normal” and take inspiration from US president Ronald Reagan. Making his leadership campaign speech at the annual Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, Cleverly opened his address from behind a lectern with an apology to the public. The former home and foreign secretary said: [...]
Tory leadership: Pledges of ‘wealth creation’ and red tape cuts in speeches October 1, 2024 Promises to champion “wealth creation” and slash red tape will be offered to party members as the four candidates vying for the Tory leadership give their keynote conference speeches. Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly, Robert Jenrick and Tom Tugendhat will take to the main stage at the Conservative Party’s annual event in Birmingham on Wednesday morning [...]
Tory leadership: Jenrick warns of ‘big task’ to restore economic credibility October 1, 2024 Robert Jenrick has warned it will be a “big task” for the next Conservative party leader to restore the party’s “economic credibility” following Liz Truss’s calamitous mini-Budget. The leadership candidate, speaking at a Q&A for party members at the annual conference in Birmingham, told the audience he was “not happy” about the current levels of [...]
Tory leadership: Kemi Badenoch’s lead drops as Robert Jenrick closes in October 1, 2024 Kemi Badenoch’s poll lead amongst Tory members has dropped from 18 points to just four ahead of rival Robert Jenrick, a new survey has found. The YouGov poll with Sky News found that if Badenoch and Jenrick went head-to-head in the final round, members would choose her by 52 per cent versus his 48 per [...]
Badenoch and Tugendhat flash low tax credentials September 30, 2024 Kemi Badenoch has said she would “love to see lower corporation tax” and stressed the need to “increase the appetite for risk taking” in a bid to go for growth. The former business secretary’s comments came during a leadership Q&A session for party members at the annual Conservative Party conference in Birmingham. She told the [...]
Tory conference: What to expect from Birmingham and why does it matter? September 30, 2024 Battling through delayed and cancelled trains from London’s Euston, this weekend saw Tory and Westminster watchers embark on the journey to the Midlands. Rattling around the maze-like International Convention Centre (ICC), the party faithful are gathering for an event that promises to be a combination of a wake, for the past 14 years in government; [...]
Tory leadership race: Robert Jenrick tops ‘PopCon’ poll as favourite to lead party September 18, 2024 Robert Jenrick has topped a Popular Conservatives poll as the favourite to lead the party in the Tory leadership race. The former immigration minister got 38.3 per cent backing from those surveyed, beating rival and former business and trade Kemi Badenoch on 34.9 per cent. It is the fourth so-called ‘PopCon’ poll Jenrick has won, [...]