Now would be a good time for Cabinet ministers to display leadership

‘Finding wedge issues, where you divide the population, only works when people trust what you say’

THE dust settles and the caravan moves on. Only not in this case. The fallout from last week’s by-election disasters still has a long way to spread. There are some difficulties that even the most talented spinners cannot explain away.

The real problem is not losing seats on the same day to Labour and the Liberal Democrats, it is the way the voters achieved this. Even without any formal pact between the antiConservative parties, they maximised the efficiency of their votes to win two very contrasting seats.

Of course, by-elections are different, and at a General Election people are more inclined to vote for their real favourites. But while many Liberal Democrat voters will never vote Labour when it really matters, there will be Labour voters in seats where the battle is between Conservative and Lib Dem who may decide to be mischievous, knowing that the likely result is a hung Parliament and a Lib-Lab pact. Adding this to inflation, strikes and a conflict with Russia and we really are re-living the 1970s.

Like Oliver Dowden, I am tribally loyal to the Conservative Party, so here are some thoughts about what is needed. The Prime Minister says he will not change, but his government must alter its style and content.

I would like to see fewer promises of world-beating change at some indefinite time in the future and more solutions to today’s diurnal problems. The British state seems to be collapsing in too many areas, and the Government needs to fix it. When it is impossible to find an NHS dentist, almost impossible to renew your passport, and difficult to change your driving licence, people get justifiably angry. They won’t believe your promises if you are ineffectual in helping day-to-day lives.

In terms of content, I would urge scepticism about the division of Conservative voters into Red Wall and Blue Wall tribes who want different things. Whether in Ashford or Ashfield, you want public services to run efficiently, and taxes kept low. If a Conservative government struggles on both fronts, the restoration of imperial measures looks like a trivial side-show.

As well as wanting a recognisably Conservative economic policy, I want, as a fully paid-up moderate, a distinctly Conservative approach to governing.

I like to see a Conservative government respecting institutions, as well as improving and reforming them. These improvements are needed to restore trust. Finding wedge issues, where you divide the population, only works when most people trust what you are saying. Without trust, we are left with bombast and rhetoric.

I have waited for ministers to lead this debate. Many in Cabinet think they could do a better job of leading than the incumbent. Now would be a good time to demonstrate those leadership qualities.