Conservative leadership aspirants pledge change to win again

The four Conservative leadership candidates have set out their visions for reforming the party following its historic defeat in this year’s general election.

Tom Tugendhat, James Cleverly, Robert Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch tried to woo members in speeches at their party conference in Birmingham.

Cleverley said the party needed to be “more natural” to win back voters who abandoned it in favor of UK reform.

Tugendhat pledged a “new conservative revolution” focused on providing better public services.

Jenrick called for a “new Conservative Party” and promised “an effective freeze on net immigration”, while Badenoch said she would “reprogram the British state” on the basis of “renewed Conservative principles”.

The Conservative Party leadership contest dominated the conference as the party seeks to recover from its worst-ever performance in July’s general election.

In a departure from tradition, the four candidates concluded the conference with speeches delivered to party supporters, instead of outgoing Conservative leader Rishi Sunak.

After being grilled by delegates and the media for several days, the four potential leaders will be narrowed down to two in a vote by Conservative MPs next week.

Conservative members will then choose the new leader from among the final candidates in a final vote, with the result announced on November 2.

In their speeches, each candidate attacked Prime Minister Keir Starmer and said his party could win the next general election under his leadership, but not without changing direction.

Tugendhat, who was first to the conference podium, said there was not enough “substance” in the Conservative leadership campaign.

The former Minister of Security spoke about his experience in the armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and how that will make him an effective leader.

He made a direct appeal to voters who had abandoned the Conservatives for Reform and Labor and the Liberal Democrats.

He said the truth was that many who shared Conservative values ​​did not vote for them.

He said the Conservatives needed to “focus on what the British people need and be absolutely tough on delivering it, from healthcare and immigration to security and education”.

He added: “We need a new conservative revolution.” “This is what Margaret Thatcher did. This is what we must do again, and we can do it.”

Cleverly opened his speech by saying “sorry” to Conservative activists for the general election result, on behalf of Conservative MPs.

But in an upbeat speech peppered with jokes, the former Home and Foreign Secretary said he knew from his past life in business what it was like to fail and bounce back.

He said that his political hero is former Republican US President Ronald Reagan, and suggested that the Conservative Party follow his example.

“Let’s be passionate, connected, positive and optimistic,” Cleverly said. “Let’s be more normal.”

He said UK reform was a “pale imitation” of his party and stressed there would be “no mergers or deals”.

To rapturous applause, he called for the abolition of “bad taxes like stamp duty” and more housing construction.

Jenrick – the bookies’ favorite to win – said he would rebuild a “new Conservative party”, an echo of New Labor in the 1990s.

The former Immigration Minister admitted that the last Conservative government “failed to deliver the strong NHS, strong economy and, yes, strong borders we were promised”.

In language used by UK reform MPs, Jenrick set out five changes the party must make to challenge Labour, including “securing our borders” and “defending our culture”.

He said he would introduce an “effective freeze on net migration” and leave the European Convention on Human Rights, an international treaty.

Jenrick, who voted to remain in the 2016 EU referendum, promised a British Bill of Rights to “finish the job” started by Brexit, and to increase defense spending, funded by foreign aid cuts.

Badenoch was the last to speak, vowing to “reboot” the British state as she attacked what she described as “aggressive identity politics” and “socialism.”

Speaking about growing up in Nigeria, Badenoch said she valued “conservative freedoms” and “saw what happens when a country loses those principles.”

The former business secretary said the UK’s system of government was “broken” and her party needed to return to “first principles” to fix it.

“If I become leader, we will immediately embark on a once-in-a-generation project,” she said, promising a “comprehensive plan to reprogram the British state.”

She said her plan would focus on reforming international agreements, human rights laws, the Treasury, the Bank of England, the civil service and the NHS.

She said her campaign was about “renewal” in time before the next general election, adding: “We have what it takes to make the 2030s a golden decade.”

In the party’s first conference after leaving government in 15 years, the tour of speeches followed the same format that propelled David Cameron to the leadership pole in 2005.

At that conference, Cameron spoke without the full text of his speech, while this time everyone except Jenrick used a teleprompter.