Tory menu must include more than serrano and gammon, Ruth Davidson says

Conservatives must look beyond “serrano or gammon” and serve up a vision to unite the entire nation, rising political star Ruth Davidson will say tonight.

The Scottish Tory leader warns of a false choice between young voters, represented by tasty European ham, and the traditional thick-sliced British meat that has become a social media meme for ruddy-faced, right-leaning older voters.

Instead, she will say at the launch of a new political think-tank, her party needs to find “a compelling alternative” with broad appeal to counter Jeremy Corbyn’s “politics of anger”.

“The choice isn’t whether we pick a side between young and old, urban or rural — millennial entrepreneur or baby-boomer factory worker,” she will say at the launch of Onward.

Or, if you will — it’s not a choice between serrano or gammon.”

Ms Davidson, who is pregnant with her first child, will be guest speaker alongside Michael Gove at the launch party for Onward, a modernising think-tank dedicated to refreshing Tory policies. She will say the group embodies people with “an instinctive sunniness” to their politics, along with a “sense of being comfortable with the modern world and a willingness to listen”.

Key members of Theresa May’s inner circle plus dozens of MPs and senior ministers are expected to attend the event at Westminster.

“We have to speak equally to the pensioner, worried about keeping the meter running on a fixed income — just as much as we speak to the working parents counting the cost of childcare — every bit as much as we do the just-graduated 21-year old graphic designer looking for a flat-share,” Ms Davidson will say. “We have it in us to speak to the entire nation — and we must.”

She will say Tories have “a moral duty” to refresh the party after last year’s election and the rise of Labour’s new Left. “We are up against the politics of anger,” she will say. “And we have to provide a compelling alternative — that sticks.”

Environment Secretary Mr Gove will say his party is “at its best when it appeals beyond its core vote”.

Former No 10 policy aide Will Tanner, the director of Onward, said failure to modernise would mean the party would “forfeit our political relevance and be finished for at least a generation”.

Fewer than one in five ethnic minority voters chose the Conservatives at the last general election, and only 9 per cent of people in the 25 to 39 age group said they will back the party next time round, according to research highlighted by the think-tank.

The group’s first publication will be a report on the housing crisis by Neil O’Brien, Tory MP for Harborough.