One year on from having lost the general election in the most devastating way a party could, the voters are still asking, ‘who are the Tories?’. The question is legitimate given that in the last ten years they have had no less than five leaders, and of those, four have been Prime Ministers.
During the time of David Cameron there was clarity on leadership and what the Tory party stood for and where the nation was going. The problems started as soon as Teresa May came into power. Whilst the general direction of travel was still conservative in nature, her previous stance as a ‘remainer’ was never quite forgotten. Her biggest error was calling a snap election which backfired, and the Tories lost their majority. With that the opposition became empowered and at every turn Labour, LibDems, Greens and the SNP went out of their way to undermine the mandate of the British people.
It was only a matter of time before she was replaced with Boris Johhson. Boris being the larger-than-life figure made many bold statements and gave hope, but when it came to his personal behaviour, his exuberance with rules let him down. He damaged the integrity of the Tory from which they still suffer. Liz Truss was next, but the establishment didn’t like her and decided she had to go. Rishi Sunak was seen as a safe pair of hands. His biggest problem, he was wet. And a wet Tory the electorate would never accept. The Tories lost the last election because they broke their promise to sort out illegal migration, the ECHR, the madness of daily hate marchers on our streets, two-tier justice and policing and of course the cost of living. They gave Reform UK a golden opportunity to take a chuck of their vote, which they did. Labour promised the earth to a public that was desperate, and with the vote splitting on the right, it was not a surprise they won.
The question, ‘who are the Tories?’, remains. Kemi Badenoch is gradually steering them to find their soul, and with that, a direction of travel that not only Tories can sign up to, but also the voters. In my view, they are still way off where they need to be to even get a reasonable share of seats next time round.
So, what are the issues that they need to be robust about?
a. Exit the ECHR and any other international treaty that hinders domestic policies.
b. Reject and deport all illegal migrants.
c. Make the British citizen the top priority when it comes to housing, jobs and welfare.
d. Reduce the cost of energy.
e. Managing the finances is important, but the voter on the street also wants to keep more of their hard-earned money.
f. End the madness of two-tier policing and two-tier justice. Those who break the law should get punishment fit for the crime, regardless of their ethnicity.
g. Investigate, prosecute and put behind bars the police, the politicians and others who aided, appeased or turned a blind eye to the abuse of white vulnerable girls by Pakistani sex grooming gangs.
h. Proscribe Islamist and far-right groups. If you allow the virus of hatred and violence to feed off the nation, it will destroy it.
i. Education, the NHS and public transport should be seen as a priority, and this should be the everyday experience of voters.
Everything else they would normally do will of course have to be done as usual. If the Tories want any chance of becoming relevant again, they need to resonate their political position with that of what the nation wants and needs. This also means that some high-profile Tories who are associated with past failures need to be put in the background.
The polls suggest Reform UK will take the popular vote and they will decimate the Tories again. The only saving grace this time round is that there is a possibility that the Corbyn/Sultana new party will take away votes from Labour to reduce that massive majority they hold currently.
In May 2026 I suspect Reform UK will make massive inroads in the Council elections. If Reform UK are seen to fail in running these councils, it gives Tories the opportunity to claim back the lost votes for the general election in 2029. The voters have already rejected Labour; Keir has made sure of that. The only question unanswered, where will this vote go? I suspect they are more likely to go to a safe established political party, than say a failing Reform UK party with no experience of national governance. However, if Reform UK are successful in running councils, then I can’t see anyone stopping them from getting into Number 10.
If you ask voters how they would describe the Tory party, words like, out of touch, dishonest, corrupt, divided, chaotic, elitist, uncaring, and useless tend to be used. Tories need a leader who can inspire and aspire the nation. Someone who can engage with the public. Someone who is willing to own the mistakes of the past and apologise for those errors. Can Kemi take them into the next election? The jury is out on this.
