Sketch: Rudd supports “distinguished” May over Johnson
No experiments! That is the reassuring message out of Manchester.
Johnson leads our Next Tory Leader category…but makes no progress in our Cabinet League Table. The reason? He divides opinion.
Davis, Gove, and Fallon make up the top three again, but satisfaction levels overall are low. And Davidson is out-polling every Cabinet member.
Hammond warns of the past, as voters wonder about the future
For most voters, the 1970s are as foreign and distant as Venezuela.
Sketch: Hammond sounds the alarm – the dinosaurs have escaped from Jurassic Park!
The Chancellor took aim at Corbyn’s 1970s Marxism.
Sketch: Green urges his Cabinet colleagues to show self-discipline
If the Conservative Party can be saved by good-humoured moderation, the First Secretary of State will provide it.
He’s back! From his lowest total ever, Johnson springs to the top of our Next Tory Leader survey
“Other” is second, Rees-Mogg third, and Davis fourth. The shape of the results is very similar to that of a recent YouGov poll.
Sketch: Rees-Mogg says if there is no Brexit deal “we pay them not a brass farthing”
He is one of the biggest conference draws, because he is one of the best and most ebullient advocates of Brexit.
Help to Buy, and unruly ministers, leave the Tory conference underwhelmed on Day One
The gathering Tory tribe feel the urgent need to defeat Corbynism, but are not enamoured with the policy offer so far.
Our survey. As the Conservative conference opens, over half of Party members believe May shouldn’t lead them into the next election.
That’s a slight movement against the Prime Minister staying on as Party leader (and in office).
The Pickles Review. As expected, he doesn’t rock the boat. But he gives it a nudge (and then some).
The most startling element is its one big dive outside the workings of the Tory machine: he wants the leader’s powers to draw up the manifesto to be reined in.
Conservative Party membership “is down by a quarter”. Will it drop below 100,000 next year?
There has been radio silence from CCHQ since 2014. Any organisation that won’t declare a figure has the smell of decay about it.
Green, Fox, Brady, Morgan. And live-streaming Rees-Mogg. ConHome’s Party Conference programme.
We pick out five items from it which may be of special interest to our readers and others who will attend.
Our survey. Party members approve of Johnson’s Brexit article, but many are displeased with May’s Florence speech
Eight in ten respondents agreed with the thrust of the Foreign Secretary’s case. But the Prime Minister’s speech met with more unhappiness than positivity.
We need a regeneration of the Right
Historically, we have developed our best new ideas and talents when in Opposition. We must break that cycle, and renew our movement now.
Coming soon to a party near you: the Institute for Protection
Supporters of a new pro-free trade think-tank will be told that Tories are all behind them in principle. But…