Jackie Doyle-Price: The Right will triumph through confident Conservatism – not by running after Reform

Dame Jacqueline Doyle-Price DBE is a former Minister, Whip and MP for Thurrock 2010-24.

For forty years I have served our great Party – in good times and bad times – and in the toughest of fights.

It is true – the Conservative Party has no god given right to exist.  But whilst it is far from the brink of extinction, it’s future depends on us.

It needs self-discipline in place of self-indulgence.  It needs the Party to recover its collective self-confidence that our beliefs in the free market; individual liberty; the rule of law and the nation state are the best for our country and to have the courage to fight for them.

It is but eighteen months since we went through defeat. I was one of the casualties. It was no surprise to me.  When you have been at the coal face in a marginal seat you get to be able to read the runes. And that is why I think I have some advice to offer our great party in the light of recent events.

I and many other Conservative MPs took a stand against many of the decisions made by the Government during the pandemic. I found them profoundly un-conservative and to be frank, just wrong. But I do accept that those decisions were made by Government Ministers in good faith.  I am less than impressed that folk who were willing to take the taxpayers shilling at the time are now happy to criticise the Government of which they were part. It is a less than honourable thing to disavow collective responsibility after the event.

We should remind ourselves also that the Conservative Party is one characterised by rational pragmatism.  We have our beliefs yes, but Conservatives pursue our goals through debate and argument and persuasion. Not for us the weapons of the ideologues and the revolutionaries. Surely everyone is welcome to join us in the fight to defeat the social bureaucracy of the Starmer Government.

So it is with a shiver that I read we must ‘unite the right’.  Politics just isn’t that binary. The suggestion that our One Nation strand of MPs would be happier in the LibDems is utterly offensive and plain wrong.  Some of them have fought hard to keep their seats and they have a much deeper footprint serving the Party than those who would wish them to leave.  They have done what they needed to keep their seats and contribute to our previous victories. Those in reform facing battles should draw inspiration from their efforts in the fight to keep their seats Conservative.  Our success relies on building the broadest possible base of support.   That is hardly helped by sowing divisions amongst ourselves.

And by the way – We are no longer in Government.  The electorate has punished us for our failure.

They are now judging the Government of today.  We aren’t fighting the last election.

Conservatives should be using their energy to fight Labour and set out a positive agenda for the future. Kemi is doing exactly that. In Kemi we have a leader who knows exactly what she thinks. She is leading by instinct and with confidence and is gratifying to see just how she has confounded expectations.

For the last three decades our politics has been characterised by spin, with messages being tested by focus group. Its been about sticking rigidly to lines to take. The public have had enough of that.  They see it as less than honest. The rules written by Tony Blair and Alastair Campbell are now over.  The public wants straight talking and no flannel.  And to be honest it is why Nigel Farage has been able to lead Reform to places UKIP could never get to.

And that is why Kemi Badenoch is the leader for our time. Through clear thinking and authenticity together with plain speaking and a directness of approach she brings a freshness to our politics which is more than a match for any other leader.

So enough talking our Party down.

The next General election will be one characterised by five party politics. It means seats can be won on less than 25 per cent of the vote. And they will be. Our focus as a Party is to maximise that conservative vote. To campaign with confidence as Conservatives.  Democracy cannot be gamed.  We stand on our principles with integrity or we shouldn’t stand at all.  We say what we think not what we think we should say.  The voters will make their choices.

We hold the fate of the Conservative Party in our own hands.  We all know what to do.

Its all for one and one for all.