How does Theresa May plan to reinvigorate her party and send it out, united and happy, after this week’s conference? If the extracts of her speech that have been trailed tonight are anything to go by, it’s not clear that the Prime Minister knows how to answer that question, either. It’s either the case that May is holding back a series of announcements for the speech itself or for individual newspapers, or that she is planning to make motherhood and apple pie look controversial in comparison to the epithets she is going to deliver.
The Prime Minister will tell the country that ‘our best days lie ahead of us and that our future is full of promise’. She also plans to attack the Labour Party – something hardly unusual for a Tory leader in or out of government – saying:
‘Millions of people who have never supported our party in the past are appalled by what Jeremy Corbyn has done to labour. They want to support a party that is decent, moderate and patriotic. One that puts the national interest first. Delivers on the issues they care about. And is comfortable with modern Britain in all its diversity. We must show everyone in this country that we are that party.’
The title of the speech is ‘Our Future Is In Our Hands’, and will presumably also include a call for unity among Conservatives in order to seize the opportunity ahead of the party. What’s not yet clear is whether May will dare her party to support her by talking about Chequers by name – when some have suggested that she should defend her plan without using the now-toxic branding – or indeed whether she plans to set out any detailed domestic policies that will ensure Britain’s best days are ahead of it. The party is either holding back a big secret, or May is continuing to stick to her strategy of merely offering a series of holding lines in order to survive this conference.
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