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Co-founder of Whole Nation Conservatives Miranda Jupp is a longstanding North East Conservative activist and former council candidate. Prior to the 2024 General Election she was Chief of Staff to Sir Simon Clarke.
“WE HAVE BEEN BETRAYED” declares The Mirror splash, whilst The Daily Mail opens with “Betray that proves Labour cynically said ANYTHING to get elected”.
The experience of the Labour Government over the last few days has shown the danger of laying future traps for yourself in the interests of a cheap win in opposition: X is awash with photos and videos of cabinet ministers vocally supporting WASPI campaigners whilst in opposition, only to (rightly) conclude in Government that it is unaffordable to offer compensation to those who somehow missed the extensive publicity on pension age changes. The issue is not the policy decision, but the hypocrisy of repeated statements of support for a campaign (with known cost implications) over an extended period in opposition, only to renege on commitments made within months of entering office.
Regardless of your political persuasion, this sort of situation is damaging to trust in politics. It is therefore vital that Conservatives avoid the temptation to make similar commitments in opposition that will be undeliverable in government. We need to be honest about the extent to which the public finances will continue to be constrained by demographic challenges. We need to explain that the idea that the state can fix every problem, which was cultivated by the very interventionist response to the Covid-19 pandemic, is unrealistic. And we need to show serious commitment to the supply side reforms required to unlock higher rates of economic growth, without which we have no hope of funding healthcare, pensions and defence.
This doesn’t mean that we can’t support campaigns in opposition: there are some (such as the inheritance tax changes on businesses and family farms) where the numbers involved and the broader implications mean that it is entirely sensible to state that a Conservative Government would make different choices, but we must not fall into the trap of blithely declaring support for every feel good cause without thoroughly considering the demands it would place on the taxpayer AND the interaction with the wider Conservative vision our party wants to offer for a better Britain (there is some good discussion of the importance of the wider project on this week’s Blueprint podcast with Juliet Samuel (1))).
Kemi Badenoch has shown promising signs of understanding this, but it is vital that the whole Conservative parliamentary party keeps this in mind: those going to war on pylons in parts of the country where grid capacity is lacking should consider how they would respond to power shortages as an energy minister in 5 years time!
The other key consideration for maintaining trust in the ability of democracy to deliver is the mechanisms through which manifesto commitments can be delivered. It is not enough to know what you want to offer the country - a path to delivery, with clear, achievable benchmarks along the way is essential to avoid voters feeling let down. Levelling Up is a lesson here, with many 2019 Conservative voters left disappointed at the rate of progress (it is worth noting how much better than average the Conservative vote share held up on Teesside, which was ahead of the curve on Levelling Up progress AND has a clear local narrative under the leadership of Ben Houchen) - whilst the pandemic undoubtedly had an impact on delivery of this priority, the scale of the challenge meant it would always be a project which stretched across several parliaments and the tendency to a piecemeal approach of small funding pots didn’t support the storytelling required to give confidence that the big picture project would be followed through and improve the lives of the communities so keen to see the places they call home revitalised.
There were also promises we made in Government which we proved unable to deliver due to the failure to grip the state apparatus. Tom Jones provides interesting food for though on the comparative tales of conservative administrations in Hungary and the UK for the Critic (2) and learning lessons from overseas and successful reforms in Government (such as Education Reform and the introduction of Universal Credit) should certainly be a priority for all Conservatives as we work to not only return to Government at the earliest opportunity but also deliver on our promises once we secure office.
Conservatism is a pragmatic philosophy, so we must be grounded in reality, not an unattainable ideal world, in our work to develop a deliverable offer which appeals to and works for the Whole Nation.
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