Futhermore, the Government needs to sharpen up its sense of mission. And there is a heap of talent on the Tory backbenches.
Francis Maude was responsible for a huge achievement in slimming down the numbers in Whitehall. His legacy is under threat.
The former minister for the Cabinet Office explains why his experiences have convinced him that reform is urgently needed.
If the Conservatives spoke a progressive alliance, and meant it, they might be able to make some progress – and break down virulent anti-Toryism.
Guido Fawkes, Tom Newton-Dunn and the Evening Standard diary banded together to suggest that I was about to do a far, far better thing than I have ever done…
This first piece of a mini-series on what should be in the manifesto argues that the Conservatives must get serious about living within our means.
Charged with managing Whitehall, trouble-shooting, clocking Sturgeon, and preparing government for Brexit, his workload would make lesser mortals crumble.
How I saw civil society at work recently in Israel, across the religious and ethnic divide, and am helping to build it up in Loughborough.
Lord Woolton (pictured right) was the greatest-ever, rebuilding the Conservatives after the war. But here are my favourite five.
Officials, advisers and Ministers will always need external expertise: what we need are conservative-minded experts.
I suspect that he has come to believe that, even with a leadership election round the corner, the Conservatives cannot become the party he wants them to be.
Maude showed plenty of enthusiasm and laid some strong foundations, but better messaging and methods are needed.
This agenda has never been put to the electoral test, whilst the traditionalist strategy can be seen to have had limitations.
I have long been struck by the incredible stresses placed upon them by a system that is meticulous in its oppression across so many of the European institutions.