The factional divide in the Conservative Party used to be between the wets and the drys. These days, it seems it is between the optimists and the pessimists. This was reflected in Salford last night, during the ITV debate between Jeremy Hunt and Boris Johnson. Perhaps the key exchange came when Jeremy Hunt told Johnson […]
There is something at once heartening and bone-achingly wearisome about hearing a Conservative politician talking about how they’re going to take the fight to the nanny state. If you’re liberally-minded it is of course nice to hear someone, anyone, talking that way. But there’s no escaping the fact that Conservatives have said the same things […]
When Donald Trump first entered the White House, we in Number 10 received a degree of flak for not being higher on his call sheet. Column inches about the state of the “special relationship” grew and the narrative of “snub” took hold, only to increase when it seemed that Trump considered it a more important […]
Theresa May has always made a point of her dedication to public service. In a House of Commons packed with preening egos and noisy attention-seekers, her preference was to simply dig in, Boycott-style and ‘get on with the job’. As is now clear, that was not necessarily the style of leadership Britain needed at such […]
The BBC’s leadership debate was a miserable affair. Tory candidates for Prime Minister kept talking over each other in their desperation to deliver a killer attack on one of their colleagues. Emily Maitlis — who has one of the worst records amongst her BBC peers for interrupting guests — performed to type. The set looked […]
Rory Stewart is the modern day spiritual preacher for the secular class. He talks of “love,” of “issues” that only the enlightened have seen, and calls for people to “come together” in the “centre”. The secular class think they’re seeing something new because they don’t go to church, but they’re getting hoodwinked. Stewart has called […]
One of the reasons I’m backing Rory Stewart’s pitch for Conservative leader is he’s a man who will cross the street for a conversation. No other contender has to date done anything like it, creating real unscripted encounters with a battered and perplexed electorate up and down our country — to be challenged, to persuade, […]
Jeremy Hunt and I were elected at the same time, are near parliamentary neighbours, and became firm friends. I first met him nearly 20 years ago when I was setting up the ‘No’ campaign against joining the euro and he was a strong supporter. I soon realised that he was a future star who might […]
Our country needs someone to take charge with decisive and compassionate leadership and the only person with those qualities is Andrea Leadsom. I’ve known Andrea since we joined Parliament in 2010; we’re constituency neighbours, and she and I have worked together on many issues of common interest to our constituents. No matter her role – […]
Tory leadership candidates may disagree on the best way to deliver Brexit, but there does at least appear to be a consensus on the need to reduce the burden of taxation. This week, for instance, we have had Boris Johnson outlining a plan to give 3 million people a tax cut by raising the threshold […]
The biggest problems are often the ones we ignore. For Fleet Street pundits and Westminster politicians, it can be easy to forget that there’s a world beyond London. But you don’t need to spend long outside the metropolis to realise that successive governments have neglected large parts of the country. Too many places have been […]
In this chapter, I want to explain why the future is bright for Britain. I should start by acknowledging that – at the time of writing – my optimism is not universally shared. Project Fear has gone from being a campaigning tactic to one of the UK’s major industries. My aim is to explain that […]
So far, the big question in the Conservative Party leadership campaign has been how to handle Brexit. But there’s another issue that could be even more important, both for the country and for the Conservative Party’s continued existence, and scarcely anyone is talking about it. That issue is housing. The price of property in many […]
I am running to be leader of the Conservative Party because, whilst there is a wide range of candidates, only a narrow set of views is being discussed. But one way or another, Brexit is going to be resolved, so we need to look at ideas beyond Brexit too. For nine years austerity and its […]
Unsurprisingly, the Conservative leadership election has so far been dominated by Brexit. But Conservative Party members, and the country at large, will want to know more about prospective party leaders’ – and Prime Ministers’ – stances on a wide range of areas. One such issue is the environment, which by any indication has rocketed up […]
Next week, the Conservative Party will be choosing a new leader. So what am I and my colleagues looking for when we decide who to back? The first thing to recognise is that this contest will not be about choosing a leader for the next few months – it will be about choosing a leader […]
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