Labour isn’t working.
The challenge of our times, take back control, make America Great Again. These are the best recent political slogans, and yet this is what the 2024 Conservative conference has mustered up. It is ‘review and rebuild’.
A relatively insipid title, but it’s better than that, because we’re sending a message to voters of hope that this is not the end, but an opportunity for the next chapter in the history of the Conservative Party.
I have an idea that could help with this degree of hope and building hope.
Jacob Rees-Mogg delivers his verdict on Reform’s influence on the Conservative Party
GB News
I suggested yesterday a Tory-Reform electoral pact, and a shocking new poll has been issued by Popular Conservatism showing that a majority of Conservative members support an alliance with the Reform Party, and 70 per cent of members support closer relations with Nigel Farage.
It is time to make an arrangement with Reform.
Reports in the Mail on Sunday by my old friend Brendan Carlin have suggested that Reform is open to it, and this is a major development, because Reform is a powerful influence in British politics today.
UKIP was a one issue party, the Brexit Party was a one issue party, but Reform is a serious contender and isn’t going to go away.
Some senior Tories may think that Nigel Farage will disappear into a puff of smoke from one of his Marlboro Golds, but we saw him on GB News earlier. He’s not going anywhere.
But Reform has serious ideas which are very Conservative, part of the Tory family, ones on which we need to draw and help rebuild trust with the electorate. These are ideas on immigration, on law and order, and crucially, on net zero.
Our members, the members here, the members at this conference, see the world in such a similar way, our bases want the same thing, which means one thing, and that is that we need to work together.
Because in British politics, in a first past the post system, if your wing of political life is divided, you lose. It’s as simple as that.
So only if we can work together, can we hope to get back into government and defeat these awful socialists.