She is adept at wading into press rows, less so at implementing concrete steps to stymy the extreme ideologies creeping through the public sector – including on her own patch.
Each of the leadership contenders has spoken about reforming the party organisation; one aspect that should not be neglected is becoming more of a place to discuss policy.
There is only one prize, and it still won’t be judged by the vast majority of the audience – or handed out, today. The people who will really judge, remain just 119 individuals.
Tory members do not seem to be gathered in corners nursing their undoubted, and understandable emotional bruises from the election. They seem remarkably upbeat.
Associations must be given the time to choose their preferred candidate. Candidates must be given the time to embed themselves in their constituencies. CCHQ should enhance the offer to candidates too, to broaden the talent pool.
It is clear that over that last decade we’ve become too Westminster-centric in our thinking and campaigning. Too many people in government put their careers first, the Party second, and the country a distant third.
The Shadow Housing Secretary still leads the pack, but her path to the membership round is precarious. Will the next few days allow one or more candidates to inject some life into the race?
The interim Chairman of the Party shares details of his speech on Sunday, how he’s dealt with the fall out of the election defeat and unveils roles for ConHome columnist and peer Daniel Hannan, and former Leader of the House Penny Mordaunt in his work to start rebuilding the party.
I’m referring to accidental slips of the tongue at a key moment. The powerful rhetoric that rewrites itself wrongly. The inadvertent switch from gift-of-the-gab to gift of a gaffe.
Such comforting (but ultimately illusory) complacency was in evidence just after what was arguably an even more comprehensive defeat in May 1997. How did that turn out?
The former leader of the Scottish Conservatives talks to Ben Houchen about how she revived the fortunes of the Scottish Conservatives.
Robert Jenrick, Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat offer their critique of the Prime Minister’s words to the Labour Party conference 2024
“English identity is in peril right now, and that’s partly because our kids aren’t being taught it,” he says.
He also touches on his personal background growing up in London, and the values instilled in him by his family, which have shaped his conservative outlook.
The question for the leadership candidates is how best to position the Conservative Party to win back the public’s confidence.