Conservatives cannot win with their heads in the sand

Conservative Party rosette
Conservative Party rosette

To say that the 2024 general election was a disaster for the Conservative Party tests the art of political euphemism to its limits. The result has been to create a wasteland on the centre-Right of British politics.

Stories will be told of the efficiency of the Labour vote, the reemergence of the Liberal Democrats, and the rise of Reform UK. But the deeper truth is that the Conservative Party lost because it had forgotten what real conservatism is.

Lacking that shared understanding and commitment, it was unable to offer a coherent account of what it had done and why, or any serious argument for its own legitimacy or continuation in government.

All else flowed from that. Little wonder it was destroyed.

After all, it should not need saying that a real conservative is conservative in temperament: modest, not arrogant; public-spirited, not self-obsessed; frugal, not extravagant; long term in focus, not preoccupied with the evanescent; respectful of others, not offensive about them; pragmatic, not reckless, cautious in making commitments, not given to empty promises; sceptical of grand claims and easy solutions, not embracing of them.

This ought to be a truism. But it could scarcely offer a greater contrast with the recent examples of Conservative governance, which often demanded the pen of a Swift to do it justice.

It is easy to be wise after the event. But take some of the specific decisions of the past 14 years.

First come the referendums on the Alternative Vote, on Scottish Independence and on Brexit, which cast a complex issue or set of issues into a supposedly simple one-off choice in a yes/no format, and which proved to be intensely – and progressively more – divisive.

Or take many less high-profile decisions as well. These include the escalation of UK intervention in Libya, the vote to bomb Syria, the Bill to create an elected Lords, the planning of HS2, the Fixed Term Parliaments Act, the spikes in public spending in 2017 and 2019, the second and third Covid lockdowns, and the spike in legal immigration after 2022. Very little of this had to do with the real values of conservatism.

What is to be done? The road to recovery will take time. Policymaking can come later. What matters is authenticity: of values, tone and temperament expressed in action.

First, Conservatives should take the British Constitution with the seriousness it deserves.

That means setting their face against referendums, supporting sensible reforms of parliament, curbing the creeping presidentialism of the office of Prime Minister or Leader, and reinforcing the authority of the (Shadow) Cabinet.

Secondly, against the tide of modern politics, Conservatives should make a point of treating the general public like grown-ups.

That means avoiding bandwagons, offering explanations rather than slogans, acknowledging mistakes, and seeking to dial down public emotions, not inflame them.

And finally, the Conservative Party should rededicate itself to public service, and to being a sane and effective political organisation.

It could, for example, set two tests for potential parliamentary candidates: demonstrate that you were a real conservative, and that you made a meaningful commitment to public service, before you sought public office. If either answer is “no”, the candidate should be gently encouraged to apply again in future.

This may seem frivolous, but it is not. Now more than ever, the Conservative Party needs to be serious: in the way it treats the British Constitution and the public, in addressing the deep challenges we face, and in how it conducts itself.

That begins with people who know what real conservatism is, and who are personally committed to it.


Rt Hon Jesse Norman is Conservative MP for Hereford and South Herefordshire. He is the author of Real conservatism: A personal view (Onward, 2024)