One of the problems about writing my weekly update during the conference season is there is so much political news! And with the key event this week – the Prime Minister’s speech – finishing after the Shuttle goes to press, I can only comment next week.
Political conferences are full of announcements. They are also full of naysayers and those who have an opinion on everything, even if it is unwelcome. Ex-prime ministers could do well to hold their views – especially when their views caused so many problems.
Whilst most people will have something that they feel passionately about, the wider conference announcements will hold no interest. That is why the conference is less about announcements, more about wider narrative.
This year is important. It is important because in all likelihood, it is the last conference season before we are in a general election. Next week, Sir Kier Starmer, Labour leader, will have to start putting out definitive policies. He will have to demonstrate that despite giving Jeremy Corbyn his full, unqualified, 100% backing at the 2019 general election, he has successfully reversed that position 100%. He must show he is now unequivocally against hard socialism and all those policies of nationalisation that he backed, and is a moderate, centrist leader of a moderate, centrist party. And he must convince people that he will not let in the extremists who ran Labour just 4 ½ years ago.
Similarly, Rishi Sunak must show what type of leader he will be with his own mandate. Like all leaders facing the electorate next year, he has been appointed since the last election. Indeed, he was supported by just Conservative MPs, not even the wider Conservative party. The five pledges he has made – halve inflation, grow the economy, cut debt, cut NHS waiting lists, and stop the migrant boats – are fine and managerial, but everyone will expect any government to deliver this anyway.
By the time this is read, his speech will be over, the conference hall will have emptied, and commentators will be deep into the bones of what he has said. I am looking for a vision – a vision that helps all to succeed, that allows people to be able to keep more of their own money, that not only provides the opportunity for people to succeed, but allows them to be proud to be aspirational. I want to see an innovative, imaginative economy and an education system that delivers for all. As I write this, I am confident he will deliver.