By The Guardian (World News) | Created at 2024-10-02 08:00:18 | Updated at 2024-10-02 10:24:05
2 hours ago
Good morning. There are plenty of more important things in politics than who becomes the next Conservative leader – two thirds of voters don’t even care, according to Ipsos polling, including almost a third of people who backed the party at the election – but if you are interested in the outcome, today is the most important day in the contest so far. Over the past century most people elected Conservative leader have also been prime minister at some point, so it is normally a consequential choice.
Although the four-day conference has, in effect, been a long husting, this morning we’re getting the key face-off. All four candidates are delivering a 20-minute speech in the conference hall. A platform speech to a big audience is always a challenge, but the candidates face two particular difficulties this morning.
First, they are going to have to say something new (no one is impressed by a speech they have heard before) even though they have spent the last three days constanly using their best soundbites, arguments, jokes and talking points. That won’t be easy.
And, second, they have to make a pitch to two separate audiences. Conservative party members will have the final say. But next week the 121 Conservative MPs will vote in two more ballots will eliminate two candidates, before ballot papers with just two names go out to members. And the views and priorities of members and MPs are not wholly aligned; MPs tend to have a more acute sense of what will help them stay elected.
The four candidates have briefed out lines from what they plan to say, and here is snapshot.
Robert Jenrick, who is now the favourite, is going to talk about building a new Conservative party. According to the Telegraph, he will say:
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.
Jenrick’s platform is very rightwing in some respects (he is the only candidate fully committed to withdrawal from the European convention on human rights), but this is the language of Tony Blair, when he created New Labour.
Kemi Badenoch will say the Tories must be the part of “wealth creation”. She will say:
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.
James Cleverly will strike the most optimistic note, the advance briefing suggests. 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.
And Tom Tugendhat will also adopt Blairite language, calling for a “New Conservative Revolution”, according to Politico’s London Playbook (which says the New is capped up in the briefing it had).
There is more on what they will say in our overnight conference story, by Jessica Elgot.
Here is the timetable for the day.
10.30am: Richard Fuller, the Conservative chair, opens the morning session, and there is also a short speech from Stuart Andrew, the chief whip. Then we get into the main event of the conference: the leadership contenders’ beauty parade, where they all deliver 20-minute speeches in the conference hall.
10.45am: Tom Tugendhat speaks.
11.10am: James Cleverly speaks.
11.35am: Robert Jenrick speaks.
Noon: Kemi Badenoch speaks.
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