A message to Conservative Party members:
This week your ballot to vote in the leadership election will arrive. I want to explain why I hope you’ll back Robert Jenrick.
It starts with honesty. We need to be clear about why we lost the election. We lost because we were seen as incompetent and divided, and no-one knew what we stood for. This wasn’t entirely fair but it was true enough to turn off millions of voters who left us for Reform, the Lib Dems, Labour, or ‘stay at home and don’t vote’.
To restore our reputation for competence, to unite the Party, and to rediscover what we stand for - we need leadership.
Leadership isn’t about grabbing media attention, though we certainly need a good media performer. It’s about doing the hard work to identify the real causes for our national malaise - on productivity and growth, on defence and security, on social breakdown and the state of the public services - and putting in place a plan to fix them.
It’s about setting a clear direction, with explicit policy commitments on the main issues the voters care about: immigration, the economy and the public services, especially the NHS. When the leader is clear on direction, the troops will unite and follow.
And it’s about being professional, diligent, decent, and respectful towards all strands of conservatism (and indeed non-conservatives). We need courage and radicalism, but with the spirit of emollience and courtesy. You don’t win by hectoring people. You win by putting across a clear and persuasive message with courtesy.
This combination - clarity on policy direction, and an inclusive and generous spirit - is what Robert Jenrick represents. Alone of the leadership contenders he has set out a detailed analysis of what is wrong with our country, a clear set of Conservative principles to address them, and meaningful policies to get there. And he has done so with professionalism, hard work and civility.
The pledge to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is a case in point. The other candidates all said they’d be ‘prepared’ to leave, so no one objects on principle to departure. But their positions are a fudge that would lead to years of internal party infighting, and then years of ineffective negotiation with other nations if we ever got back into government.
The Convention itself is fine - we should incorporate its principles into our own British Bill of Rights, which we will design in collaboration with all wings of the Party - but we can’t secure our borders while judges in Strasbourg or London can overturn Government policy. Rob’s position is practical, popular, and will - if he wins, with a mandate from the Party to do this - end the party infighting and enable us to take the fight to Labour.
I like and greatly admire Kemi Badenoch. If Rob had been knocked out I would have backed her. I share her politics - pro-Brexit, pro-growth, anti-woke - and I recognise her strengths as a punchy debater. But I am afraid I simply don’t see in her, as much as I do in Rob, the qualities I’ve listed: clarity on the issues, diligence, and a moderate and generous tone. I don’t believe she will, as successfully as Rob, deliver the unity or the clarity we need to get back into Government.
Of course, if Kemi wins this contest, I will gladly follow her. We have a great chance of winning back power from this plainly failing Labour government, and we will need unity to do that.
But for the next week we have a choice! I leave you with two articles which reflect my views. This piece by the great Sir Bill Cash explains his disappointment in Kemi as a Brexiteer, and this one by Daniel Hannan - while acknowledging Kemi’s great strengths - explains perfectly why Rob Jenrick is the man for this moment.
Thank you for patiently reading my plea!
With all good wishes
Danny
PS If you want to help Rob please get in touch with me or with his campaign team at [email protected].
