Sunak’s new strategy: hard truths

The last time Tory activists and MPs gathered for their annual party conference, it didn’t end well. Liz Truss had barely checked in to her hotel before she faced a full-on attack from Michael Gove, who started a rebellion against her proposed tax cuts live on air. Truss U-turned on her mini-Budget and cabinet discipline quickly collapsed. ‘It was the worst four days of my life,’ recalls a former Truss aide.

Rishi Sunak hopes to improve on this admittedly rather low mark. He sees the conference in Manchester as a potential moment of catharsis that could lead a Tory recovery. A wider reshuffle was delayed until later this year to avoid unhappy MPs venting on the fringes ahead of next week’s events. Downing Street is in bunker mode as the team finesse their plans.

Government aides complain that No. 10’s control freakery extends to the teleprompter – which means no minister can give a speech that hasn’t been word-for-word approved. To the dismay of Downing Street, Truss plans to attend – with a single intervention planned from the fringes. ‘She loves conference and hasn’t missed one for years,’ says an ally. Just her appearance is too much for some in her party: ‘It seems tone deaf,’ says one Tory. ‘It’s highly unhelpful and will be a big distraction.’

No. 10 knows the challenge the Conservative party faces. This week two polls put Labour’s lead at a seemingly unbeatable 20-point lead or more. Some Tory supporters are talking about a wipeout. The strange thing is that a lot of the time this isn’t said with dread but as a necessary prelude to clearing the decks. ‘The party needs to change – maybe they need to learn that the hard way,’ says one former backer.