There was as much doubt about Labour’s leadership nominations as there was at the Accession Council in September 2022. Like the Privy Counsellors before them, Labour MPs have declared Andy Burnham leader with ‘one voice and consent of tongue and heart’. Although he won’t officially be declared Labour’s new leader until July 17, by securing […]
In leisure centres and town halls across the country, the cheers of the victors can be heard alongside the half-hearted claps of the vanquished. Democracy at its most local – and for the people involved, most personal – is being played out in over 130 English councils, including every borough in London. Few beyond the […]
Well, they’ve done it: Reform UK have, by the defection of the former Tory MP Danny Kruger, grown their Parliamentary party to five – exactly as it was after last year’s general election. Each rise and fall of Nigel Farage’s gang of MPs speaks to Reform’s weaknesses and strengths. The loss of James McMurdock and […]
It’s fifty years since Margaret Thatcher became leader of the Conservatives. Over the decade and a half in which she led the party, Thatcher would remake conservatism, the state and the economy in her own image. Yet she may never have become leader, and the word ‘Thatcherism’ may never have crossed anybody’s lips, had it […]
What was Liz Truss’ biggest mistake as Prime Minister? Attention has, not unreasonably, tended to focus on the mini-Budget which fractured the Conservative parliamentary party, spooked the markets, forced out the Chancellor and ultimately precipitated her resignation. But the mini-Budget was arguably the product of an earlier poor decision: forming a Cabinet which excluded dissenters. […]
As a rule, Conservatives aren’t interested in talking about electoral systems. They usually leave such chatter to disgruntled politicos who think changing the rules can help them perform better in elections. But when it comes to the Conservatives’ own leadership contests, the party should engage in a little electoral introspection. The way the MPs’ ballots […]
Over the coming weeks, CapX will be running a number of perspectives on the future of the Conservative Party. If you have an idea you would like to contribute, get in touch at editors@capxstaging.wpengine.com. After fourteen years in government, in which five different prime ministers imposed their own vision of politics onto the Conservative Party, the […]
