The Tory front runner was third up in Birmingham. Throughout this race, Robert Jenrick has sought to position himself as someone with the polish of David Cameron and the politics of Nigel Farage. His speech today was very much in that vein: a staunchly right-wing message centred around delivering a ‘new Conservative party’. Like Cameron in 2005, he talks of change: but change, he would argue, of a very different nature to hug-a-hoodie modernisation.
Jenrick’s pitch was much more critical about the state of modern Britain
Jenrick’s speech began with a neat bridging exercise: talking of his father’s work in a metal foundry as a way of referencing the Iron Lady. He was keen to draw comparisons between 1974 and 2024 – with him as the new Thatcher, rescuing his party and country from the politics of decline. The Conservatives, he said, must be the ‘trade union for the working people’, ordinary men and women for whom there is ‘no lobby demanding their so-called rights’.
This was then the cue to move into a wider policy offer. Jenrick suggested five tests for the future, with a key section of his speech focused on the need to leave the European Court of Human Rights. He argued that talk of reform was a fantasy, given the need for unanimity from signatory states. ‘The choice before us is Leave or Remain – I’m for Leave’, he said to cheers – a neat way of repacking his past support to remain in the EU.
His speech moved on to a wider critique of the modern British state, rattling off failures to nods of approval from the crowd. There was talk of the Batley grammar school teacher, forced into hiding. There was condemnation of the RAF for its diversity policies in hiring. There was the timeless Tory pledge to spend the aid budget on defence – ignoring the fact that much of it now goes on housing asylum seekers. Jokes were in abundance too as Jenrick took shots at various members of the cabinet. Ed Miliband, he said, was ‘Wallace without his Gromit’; David Lammy was proof that ‘there is a more annoying LBC presenter than James O’Brien’. Keir Starmer meanwhile ‘may take the knee but he will never take the stand. He doesn’t even take the stand anymore at the football!’ It was slightly end of pier but it found favour with the room, which gave him a warm response.
It was a marked contrast with the speech which preceded it. James Cleverly talked of Reaganite optimism and the importance of being ‘more normal’. Robert Jenrick’s pitch was much more critical about the state of modern Britain and displayed an acute awareness of the fears of many members. Both found favour in the hall today.
Listen to Coffee House Shots:
Comments