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Louise Thomas
Editor
Tory leadership candidates will tell members today that they need “a New Conservative Party” to address the needs of the country and turn their fortunes around after suffering the worst defeat in their 346-year history.
Both frontrunner Robert Jenrick and rival Tom Tugendhat will make the appeal for a New Conservative Party in what appears to be an attempt at using Tony Blair’s playbook.
The former Labour prime minister took Labour back into power in 1997 as “New Labour” after 18 years in the wilderness.
The four candidates – also including Kemi Badenoch and James Cleverly – will be outlining their vision for the party in speeches on the final day of the Tory conference in Birmingham.
While Mr Jenrick and Mr Tugendhat want to ape Blair’s tactics, Ms Badenoch will promise to dismantle the former Labour prime minister’s legacy. Mr Cleverly instead wants to inject hope and optimism back into the party.
Mr Jenrick, who has run a Trumpian leadership election campaign with shock tactics and hard right policies of pulling out of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), will warn that in order to restore trust, the party needs something new.
“The truth is this. If we’re to tackle the immense challenges we face, if we’re to restore the public’s trust, we must build something new. A new Conservative Party. That is what I call for today.
“Nothing less than, A New Conservative Party built on the rock of our oldest values and best traditions. If I become our leader, this is what – together – we will build.”
He will add: “But look, I loathe empty rhetoric. Big talk and little action… that’s part of the reason we are where we are. You know I will take a stand. That’s what I did last year.
“So today let me set out, specifically, five changes the New Conservative Party must make, five things we need to stand for and take a stand on.”
He said these include rejecting mass migration, focusing on cheap, reliable energy, getting Britain building again, public sector reform, and building a more united country.
Meanwhile, former security minister Mr Tugendhat will offer “a new Conservative revolution” as he pledges to “make people proud of voting Conservative again”.
He will say: “I will build an economy that works for you. That delivers homes and jobs for our children; that helps people back to well-paid work. That lets you choose what you do with your money. That’s my politics. That’s what I will deliver. That’s what I mean by a New Conservative Revolution.”
Outling his vision he will say: “I will tell you what a Conservative is – someone who believes in Britain. Who believes in limited government. Free trade. Responsibility to others. We are not afraid of the future because we are building on the strong foundations of the past. I am standing because I believe in Britain, I have fought for Britain, and I’ve had enough of those who want to manage decline.”
Meanwhile, Ms Badenoch is set to give Tory members some hard truths.
She will talk about how she plans to dismantle the Blair and Brown framework of what she describes as ever-increasing social, economic and legal control.
The former business secretary will say that while Blair and Brown were defeated in 2010, but “the truth is the left never left”.
She will explain how her economic policy is focused on increasing productivity and robustly defend wealth creation, saying that without it we cannot deliver effective public services or help the poorest in society. She will say that as Business Secretary she saw first-hand how investors and businesspeople are leaving the UK.
She will add: “The Conservatives have to be the party of wealth creation. Wealth is not a dirty word. It supports jobs and families. It pays for our schools, for our health service. We should encourage it.”
At the start of the campaign Mr Cleverly described his greatest political hero as former US president Ronald Reagan.
His speech is set to echo that of Reagan’s with an appeal for optimism and Conservatism “with a smile”.
He will say: “Let’s be enthusiastic; relatable; positive; optimistic.
“Let’s sell the benefits of a Conservative government with a smile. We will not win back voters by pretending to be something we’re not. We win back voters by being honest, by being professional, by being Conservative.
“Never forget – Reform didn’t deliver Brexit, we did. Reform didn’t cut immigration, I did. And mark my words, we will beat Reform by being the best version of ourselves.
“If we are the best version of ourselves, if we sell Conservative values, are proud of our record and confident in our future, we will win the country.”
