Letting go of the dream of mass membership political parties Opinion The existing model of political supporter engagement – mass membership – is over. Parties who want to survive must look to the future, says Frances Lasok Less than 140,000 people decided the new leader of the Conservative Party this year. They’re participants in a niche pursuit: across parties, across Europe, membership has plummeted since the [...]
Make the Tories Conservative again? The City View A particularly laughable defence of socialism is that it’s never really been tried. It’s tempting to dismiss the central analysis of both candidates for the Tory leadership – that their Party lost the general election because they were not conservative enough in government – on similar grounds. But it would be a mistake to imagine [...]
Tories must take the Sabrina Carpenter approach to get back on top Opinion Sabrina Carpenter worked for a decade to become an overnight success. Likewise, if the Tories want to turn their fortunes around, the hard work on policy starts now, says Emma Revell It wasn’t quite a Taylor Swift moment. Keir Starmer wasn’t scrounging for hospitality tickets, for one thing. But it certainly felt like I was [...]
How Conservatives won World War Two October 3, 2024 World War Two is meant to be ‘the people’s war’ in which ordinary people rose up, saved the nation and swept the Labour party to victory in 1945. That story is at best misleading and at worst untrue, says Kit Kowol The Second World War was the Tories War. Other than describing a love of [...]
Who came out on top at Conservative Party Conference? October 3, 2024 While Kemi Badenoch did the most to undermine her own chances of becoming leader of the Conservative Party, James Cleverly came across as everybody’s favourite second choice, William Atkinson Party conferences are always odd. As Conservative membership has dwindled from 1m in 1990 to around 100,000 today – CCHQ won’t publish the figure, out of [...]
Let’s be honest… the Conservatives are deluded October 3, 2024 The Conservative Party is enjoying the sugar rush of a leadership campaign, but the grim reality of opposition will soon sink in, says Matthew Lesh The vibe at the Conservative Party conference this week in Birmingham was chipper. Well-lubricated members excitedly shuffled between drinks receptions headlined by the four leadership contenders. There were impromptu rallies, [...]
The ECHR is a vital guarantor of our freedom October 3, 2024 Far from endangering our freedoms, the ECHR makes the individual, not the state, the centre of the international order, says Sam Fowles An immutable law of modern politics is that the louder a politician bloviates about “freedom” the more authoritarian they will be in power. The last government waxed lyrical about “freedom of speech” then [...]
Tories must get out of their bubble and listen to business October 2, 2024 To those outside the bubble of true blue believers, Conservative party conference looked deranged. As violence exploded in the Middle East, delegates in Birmingham were battling over novelty merchandise and queuing for selfies with election losers. Fringe events debating the meaning of conservatism were packed while corporate sponsors and business lobbyists were conspicuous by their [...]
The main task of the next Tory leader is to repaint the party’s image October 2, 2024 The dominant narrative around a government’s record is more important than the facts, writes Paul Ormerod
Tories urged to ‘champion’ City when arguing for growth September 30, 2024 The City of London Corporation urges the Tory party to prioritise financial services to support economic growth