Now it’s James Cleverly’s turn to take 30 minutes of questions from Chris Hope and then 30 minutes from members. The last one…
Summary below:
Jenrick has just admitted that his daughter’s middle name is Thatcher, a tribute to the former Prime Minister. Certainly a unique approach to trying to win over the right of the party…
Yesterday it was Tugendhat and Badenoch. Now it’s Robert Jenrick’s turn to field questions from Chris Hope and Tory members at Conference. There’s been a row this morning over his claim that SAS personnel are “killing rather than capturing” terrorists thanks to the ECHR. The bookies’ favourite will have the chance to calm the baying mob. Of rival candidates…
30 minutes with Chris Hope and 30 minutes of members’ questions. Guido will add a summary below…
Continue reading “Jenrick Takes Questions From Tory Members”
The Tory conference this year has a distinctly upbeat vibe. The blue-on-blue scraps are serving up plenty of entertainment as the leadership hopefuls vie for the affections of the Tory grassroots. Wherever a candidate appears, there’s a flock of flustered aides, a swarm of cameras, and some strategically-placed super-fans ready to cheer them on through the conference maze. Cue lots of earnest faces and practiced nodding as members buttonhole them to give their views—or shower a bit of love. One would think they were Hollywood A-listers…
Like in Hollywood, Birmingham hasn’t been without its fair share of drama. First, the leadership contenders found themselves in neighbouring hotel rooms, which predictably wreaked havoc. Then there was the kerfuffle when Jenrick was handed the Leader’s suite after Sunak bolted from the conference on Sunday, sparking fury from Kemi. The latest Guido hears is that Richard Fuller has now been booted from his room, and Kemi’s been upgraded to the Chairman’s suite. Proper playground politics…
Sky News reports that Rachel Reeves is set to revive the UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue talks in January. That will be the first time since 2019…
Reeves is to go to China for the event to revive trade and investment ties as the Treasury conducts “detailed discussions” ahead of the EFD. The resistance of the Tory government to China’s pernicious human rights violations, behaviour over Covid, and destruction of democracy in Hong Kong led to plans for the last one in 2022 being abandoned. Now that Peter Mandelson has criticised the “Tory boycott” of the CCP it looks like it’s goodbye to those morals…
A recent survey from the Popular Conservatism group has revealed 53% of Conservative Party member support merging with Reform, while a striking 70% advocate for a closer relationship between the two parties. The numbers suggest that a large portion of the Tory base sees synergy with Reform as the best way forward. Another poll pointing to who the real LOTO is…
The realisation that Reform’s momentum is far from waning pushed the PopCon lot to hold a conference event posing the question: how do you solve a problem like Reform? The conclusion seemed to be the Tories need to find a way to reunite the right to fend off a growing Reform Party. As Annunziata Rees-Mogg succinctly put it, “We failed to deliver on being Conservative.” A return to common sense policies and proper Tory values, with unity behind a leader being essential. Slightly ironic, given that even those in PopCon can’t agree on a single candidate themselves…
Speaking at his speech on how to achieve “progressive capitalism” Wes Streeting fired a dig and Andy Burnham:
“Bond markets are not bond villains and fiscal rules matter.”