Right now the Conservative Party is going through an identity crisis. Over the past two years our party has not had a clear vision and sense of direction. As a result we have been divided and internal arguments have erupted over where we planned to take the country and what our vision for Britain was.
Now we have lost power and are in opposition, this is the time for our parliamentary party and membership to have these debates about what it is that the Conservative Party represents, what are our core values and principles and how we plan to win the 2028/29 General Election.
I will be very clear here that Robert Jenrick was not my first choice for leader. I openly and actively tried to support Priti Patel in anyway I could and would like to take the opportunity to thank her for putting her name forwards and centring her leadership bid around the grassroots by having an elected chairman and reforming central office (CCHQ) so that it truly valued and listened to our party’s membership. However, it became quite clear in the summer that for several reasons Priti wasn’t going to get through to the final two. The momentum simply wasn’t behind her.
So, I have had to think about who it is that I want to lead our party post this awful election we have all gone through and what I want our party to look like. Well quite simply, I want our party to be conservative again!
We lost the last election for several reasons: we failed to get to grips with immigration, we imposed the highest tax burden on people in 70 years (which could have been avoided) and we were not prepared to stand with the British people and represent the common ground.
This is why I have now ‘Joined Jenrick’, I have listened to all the remaining four candidates’ pitches, read their articles and spoken to a variety of people from all levels within our party. Robert understands the causes of our loss of power and is prepared to do what is necessary to win the next election.
Robert Jenrick is prepared to tackle the immigration crisis by leaving the European Court of Human Rights and by imposing a cap on numbers. Immigration was one of the top issues I heard on the doorstep during the election in July. People simply felt we let them down and were not doing everything within our power to deliver something we have promised at all recent elections which was to bring Immigration numbers down.
Our party structure also needs fundamental reforms and Robert is the best placed candidate to deliver that. Whilst, all the other remaining candidates have excellent qualities they just simply are part of the party establishment. All have blindly followed the leader and just look at where that has got us.
I want our next leader of the party to conservative, to want a smaller state, lower levels of taxation and be not just a robust Leader of the Opposition but a Prime Minister in waiting.
It is for those reasons that I’ve Joined Jenrick.
