Tory MPs have been given a new model letter then can send to constituents who write in to complain about the party. It has been issued by the Parliamentary Research Unit, a facility used by Tory MPs to deal with political correspondence (Labour has an equivalent). Are Tory MPs receiving a lot of unhappy letters?
It kicks off with some rumination on the previous government:
“I recognise that politicians across all parties have not told the truth about our country and, instead, keep prescribing quick fixes that are actually making things worse. This problem is broader than one party, one leader, or one period of government… The UK is a great country, but we have lost our way.”
There are optional sections on Badenoch’s bio which MPs can choose to include or not (as with all letters from the PRU):
“Kemi became an adult early, living as a lodger with a friend. She studied part-time at an FE college to get her A-levels while working at McDonald’s to pay her way. She knows what it is like to feel alone, to decide between paying for food and paying a bus fare. She went to a night school to get one of her degrees.”
The punchline is that the “Conservative Party is changing. It is under new leadership. It is back in the service of the British people and is going to give you your country back.” If you’re explaining…
Read the full model letter below:
“Thank you for contacting me about the direction of the Conservative Party.
I recognise that politicians across all parties have not told the truth about our country and, instead, keep prescribing quick fixes that are actually making things worse. This problem is broader than one party, one leader, or one period of government. Generations of leaders and entire ranks of senior managers have been trying and failing for a long time. The UK is a great country, but we have lost our way. Britain is failing to compete in a world that is changing and it is not working for its citizens; certainly not the way it used to.
The Conservative Party is under new leadership. [Optional – With Kemi Badenoch as leader, ] we are going to be telling the British people the truth, even when it is difficult to hear. The truth about the mistakes we made. The truth about the problems that we face and the truth about the actions we must take to get our country out of this mess.
[OPTIONAL – additional on Kemi: That is because Kemi Badenoch is a different type of politician: She tells hard truths. Truths that are essential to get our country back on track. Kemi knows this because she knows what it’s like to have something and then lose it. Although she was born in the UK, she grew up in a poor country and watched her relatively wealthy family become poorer and poorer despite working harder and harder as their money disappeared with inflation. She came back home to the UK aged 16, leaving with her father’s last £100 in the hope of a better life. Kemi has lived with the consequences of terrible governments that destroy lives. She never wants that to happen here.
Kemi became an adult early, living as a lodger with a friend. She studied part-time at an FE college to get her A-levels while working at McDonald’s to pay her way. She knows what it is like to feel alone, to decide between paying for food and paying a bus fare. She went to a night school to get one of her degrees. She knows our country is just not working for ordinary people. She is determined to change it.]
Under Kemi Badenoch, I know the Conservative Party will focus on being a strong and effective opposition, fighting for common sense and truth and holding the Government to account on the choices it has made. The Government may have a supermajority in Parliament, but it is fast losing its legitimacy because Sir Keir Starmer does not stand for what the British people want.
The Conservative Party is changing. It is under new leadership. It is back in the service of the British people and is going to give you your country back.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.
Additional Paragraphs
Reform UK gaining in the polls
I have great faith in the British public. They will decide, at the next General Election, what the best party is to run our country. [Optional – It is the honour of my life to represent X Constituency. Regardless of when the next General Election comes, I remain ready to put my track record as MP – helping constituents, scrutinising the Government, and pushing back against measures that so many clearly disagree with – to the voters of X Constituency.]
In A Nutshell
The Conservative Party is under new leadership. With Kemi Badenoch as leader, it is going to be telling the British people the truth, even when it is difficult to hear. The truth about the mistakes we made. The truth about the problems that we face and the truth about the actions we must take to get our country out of this mess.”
Sarah Pochin at Reform Scotland’s manifesto launch event: “I really wanted to come on in a Reform tartan burka, but apparently I wasn’t allowed… One day let’s do one of these events not live-streamed. We’ll do all the naughty stuff…”