Minutes after Tory leader Rishi Sunak’s conference speech ended, journalists gossiped at the back of the conference venue as they tried to distil the prime minister’s message. A well-known BBC presenter captured it best. “Time for a change, stick with the Tories,” he quipped, to guffaws from those all around.
Sunak’s attempt to cast himself as government change-maker after 13 years of rule by his party requires a bit of mental gymnastics. If voters don’t make the flip with him, the strategy could rebound badly. It runs the risk that the Tories could be portrayed by Labour as trying to make mugs of the electorate.
The platform upon which Sunak will attempt to win the Tories a record fifth election victory in a row in next year’s general election is becoming clearer. Several hints were in his speech.
Sunak and his personal attributes will be placed front and centre of the Conservatives’ strategy. He is already more popular than his party in the polls. Meanwhile, Labour leader Keir Starmer is viewed by the Tories as their rival party’s weak point.
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Sunak portrayed himself in his speech as a man who doesn’t court popularity and is unafraid of making big decisions, such as cancelling the rest of the HS2 rail project or rolling back on expensive climate measures. Starmer, meanwhile, was portrayed as a man who believes in nothing. The Tories will bank heavily on the electorate’s coolness towards the Labour leader personally as a way of staunching the flow of votes to their rival.
Although voters do appear welcoming of Sunak’s calm managerialism after years of Tory drama, it is also clear that they are not particularly personally enthused by him. Even the Tory grassroots were struggling to make an emotional connection with him in the conference hall, politely clapping rather than uproariously greeting his announcements.
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The Conservative leadership tried to soften Sunak’s image by getting the prime minister’s wife, Akshata Murty, to introduce him onstage. She gave colour about their private life, such as his love for romcoms. It seems a fair bet that Murty, who until now has stayed in the background, will be a more prominent figure in the campaign to come.
Sunak’s attributes aside, other election battlefronts also loomed into view in his speech, such as climate change policy and culture wars issues.
Tellingly, his address also suggested Sunak will put support for army veterans at the heart of his party’s campaign. This gives some insight into why his government was so prepared to ignore protestations from the Irish Government by ploughing ahead with new laws that give British army veterans immunity for crimes committed during the Troubles.