A fresh start? Sunak’s conference gamble - Kreab London

Rishi Sunak used his Party conference speech to position himself as a man of action prepared to take the long term decisions required for the betterment of Britain, after spending most of his conference refusing to say much at all until he stood on the podium earlier this afternoon (4th). ?

The Prime Minister claimed only he was capable of changing Britain for the better as he set out plans to eliminate smoking, reform education and invest ￡36 billion in new transport infrastructure in the North and Midlands, all of which had been heavily briefed before he addressed the Conservative faithful to close out this year’s conference. ?

In truth, this was about a reset of Sunak’s public perception in what will likely be his only conference speech before next year’s General Election, with the Prime Minister’s wife providing a surprise introduction to give a sense of what the man was like behind the politician. ??

The announcement regarding HS2 had dominated the Tories visit to Manchester, with the Prime Minister announcing that the government will axe the planned Manchester leg, redistributing ￡36 billion saved to fund other rail, road and bus projects across the country instead. It was noticeable Sunak spoke about his desire to work with West Midlands mayor Andy Street on several occasions, as rumours had spread about Street’s displeasure on the Government’s decision. ?

With the Government’s record on levelling up central to their re-election pitch to the British public, the Prime Minister will hope he has to time to make good on his promise for collaboration with regional leaders, showing that this decision is not just based on short term political poll chasing. ?

Other policy announcements included a phased ban on smoking – likely to be the most divisive to the Libertarian wing of the Party which was most vocal amongst the fringe over the last four days. The phased ban on smoking was pitched as a means to relive pressure on the NHS and improve public health, and appears to have been broadly well received by the public when details of the policy were leaked ahead of the Conference. ??

As well, Sunak announced a big shift on education via the scrapping of A-levels in favour of a new 'Advanced British Standard’ qualification. This is yet another attempt at educational Conservative reform, and the Prime Minister called it one of the biggest levers to change the direction of the country and bringing the UK’s educational structure in line with other countries. ?

Despite this being the thirteenth year of Conservative rule, Sunak promised only he could break with the old consensus in politics and declared that under his leadership, the Conservatives were the party of bold and radical change. ?

Today’s speech was therefore the latest attempt by Sunak again attempted to draw a clear political line between himself and Sir Keir Starmer. For the Conservatives to deliver an historic – and unlikely – fifth term in office, he will hope that the message at the heart of his speech today, that he is a man of clarity and conviction who can take those tough decisions, will gain traction. The ball is now in Starmer’s court to make his pitch to the country next week.