Guy Corbet: New Corbyn-lite policy initiatives are inferior to old truths

The Conservative Party, and its crop of new think-tanks, is full of zeal for new ideas. But they could be asking the wrong question.

Lewis and Barwell host conference call to gauge anger at Chequers on the doorstep and among the grassroots

They’re right to ask the question. If the answer comes back that May’s plan is harming the Tory campaign machine and electoral prospects, what will they do?

Nick Hargrave: A Conservative split is inevitable – the question is how to manage and minimise it

The tension can be seen in the way the Prime Minister’s sensible effort at Chequers clashes with the deeply-seated values of many in the Party’s grassroots.

Candidate applications open for next target seats: Bedford and Ipswich

There are early signs of a common profile of the seats chosen as targets.

Steven Woolfe: To win the working class northern vote, the Conservative Party must change its attitude and tone

The issue lies in the Party’s image and how it communicates with voters, not the actual message.

James Frayne: Onward, the new think-tank, is rightly focused on what matters to provincial Britain

It would be easy, but mistaken, to take the path of least resistance and simply re-enact the dated Cameron ‘modernising’ agenda.

Claire Ainsley: There is a new working class, with different political concerns and motivations from the old

Understanding what makes these voters tick could be key to the outcome of the next election. No party can afford to ignore them.

James Frayne: Johnson is the only person making a popular pitch to voters – Downing Street is unwise to slap him down

They might think him crass, or judge him to be over-reaching – but they haven’t come up with any equivalent ideas themselves. It’s time to announce some popular stuff.

Robert Halfon: Give the people a referendum every decade on how much to increase NHS spending

Underpinned by a guarantee of a real-terms increase at minimum, this would help to draw the poison from the issue – particular for Conservatives.

Leon Emirali: Forget social media. Focus on the next frontier of digital campaigning.

The Conservatives need a strategy to dominate VR, a presence in voice-controlled tech and – yes – a ‘Maybot’ chatbot.

James Frayne: Hostility to the baby boomers is politically suicidal – and deeply unfair

The idea that those now entering old age somehow had it easy is completely wrong. And so is the myth that they are intolerant and narrow-minded.

James Frayne: Wanted, urgently – a Downing Street Director of Strategy

Someone has to take control of the Government grid and plot a series of activities designed to reinforce each other and to build a positive narrative.

Nick Herbert: The question isn’t whether aid works. It does. The question is how it can work better.

The challenge for aid donors and recipients alike is to work together to improve its efficiency and effectiveness.

James Frayne: The Industrial Strategy. Top marks for spin. Lower ones for content.

Gone is the Conservative certainty of reducing taxes to promote businesses’ own investment and growth.

Peter Franklin: Introducing GovOpposition. How the Tories can reinvent themselves in office. And who’s doing it best.

While the responsibilities of government must be shouldered, there’s no doubting the need for a time of renewal – one as profound as in any period of opposition.