Conservative Party must change course after disastrous defection
FOR many voters, our friend and former colleague Lee Anderson symbolises the political realignment that gave the Conservative Party its historic election win in 2019.
From coal miner and single dad to Tory MP and champion of commonsense Red Wall Toryism, Lee’s journey illustrates how the interests of the Labour Party have drifted from the straight-talking working people of Britain towards a “progressive” urban elite. So his decision to defect to Reform is a sad indictment of a failure of our party to listen to voters who propelled us to victory four years ago.
We understand and share Lee’s frustrations, but supporting Reform makes a Conservative Britain less likely. Under our first-past-the post electoral system, Reform candidates are likely to take votes from the Tories, making a substantial Labour majority more likely in the general election.
Labour would raise taxes, increase immigration, undo Brexit and divide our society. The inability of the Labour leadership to stand up to Islamic extremism poses a serious threat to our national security. Every vote for Reform makes this more likely.
The long-term causes of Lee’s disenchantment – and of so many others – lie in the party’s failure to hold together the coalition of voters who gave us an 80-seat majority in 2019. Those voters, in traditional heartlands and Red Wall seats like Lee’s Ashfield constituency, backed us for optimistic, patriotic, no-nonsense conservatism. They voted for lower immigration, a better NHS, a rebalanced economy and pride in our country.
Current polls show what the public thinks of our record since 2019. There has been no great exodus of Tory voters to Labour. Far more of our former supporters prefer “don’t know” to Keir Starmer. Rather, the polls tell the story of our failure to “lean in” to the concerns of conservative-minded people nationwide. We cannot pretend any longer that “the plan is working”. We need to change course urgently.
This does not mean fracturing our party. Every current Conservative MP was elected on the promises of 2019. We can hold together and win back our disenchanted voters – but only if we recommit to serve the whole country, including the millions who feel alienated by mainstream politics and who put their trust in us because we promised change. That means commitments on crime, immigration, tax, skills, welfare, housing, defence and the NHS that go far beyond what we are currently offering; dropping the worst excesses of net zero policies; having the courage to call out – and address – the radical Islamists who are threatening national security; and actively opposing destructive identity politics instead of pretending that the “culture wars” are a peripheral issue.
Like Lee, we want our country back. But Reform cannot deliver the change that its supporters rightly demand. Only a reformed, renewed and truly conservative Tory party can offer hope for a conservative future.