17 June 2019 | OPINION

Our Party and our country stand on the edge of a precipice and whilst there are some within the ranks of our membership who believe our electoral fortunes can be solved with a quick shot of political Viagra, I believe we need to approach this leadership election seeking a candidate who has the ability to negotiate a Brexit deal and who also has a long-term vision to challenge the prevailing political ethos, which is why I am backing Jeremy Hunt.

Our starting point to be able to restore the Conservative Party’s reach with the wider electorate must be to deliver on Brexit. Whilst I applaud the spirited debate that has ensued so far throughout the contest, I despair at the prospect put forward by some that the only answer to the Brexit deadlock is either to walk away at one extreme or go back to the electorate via a citizens’ assembly at the other extreme. Both of these options are the wrong approach. Whilst Britain has spoken and, almost 3 years to the day, Britain is still waiting for Brexit to be delivered, we need our Government and our next Prime Minister to take a lead.

Only Jeremy Hunt has shown any form of credible plan to ensure that Brexit is delivered and he is the only credible candidate with the skill at negotiation to make other European leaders come back to the table and engage.

As a starting point, Jeremy will clear out the failed technocrats, take a European Union approach and send a fresh new team of politicians to the negotiating table to hammer out a solution to the Northern Irish backstop which has so harmfully divided our Party. Jeremy’s instinctive belief in democracy demonstrates his belief in Brexit, but more importantly his life’s work as a negotiator and an entrepreneur make him the right leader to be able to unite a divided Parliament, make the European Union negotiate and fully prepare our country for the opportunities which lie ahead as a more outward-looking and global nation.

Throughout this whole contest, one thing my fellow Conservative Party members should not lose sight of is that it is not all about Brexit. It is also about the Conservative Party redefining a narrative with the public to prevent a disastrous and ruinous Labour Party from wreaking havoc with our economy – Venezuelan style, and that is why Jeremy Hunt is more perfectly placed than other candidates in the field to meet this challenge and restore our political credentials with the public.

Jeremy is a man across all departments and – unlike the other candidates – has a fully costed coherent plan to grow the British economy and get public services moving again. His pledge to cut corporation tax to Irish levels will make Britain the most pro-business economy in Europe and will ensure Britain’s Foreign Direct Investment continues to grow, raising our stagnant GDP. This is the most holistic way we will find more money for our public services – such as the NHS – and still be able to cut taxes for ordinary hard-working people, all things that the Conservatives want to do.

The last thing we need as a Party at this juncture is a general election, but from this point onwards we need to be preparing for one with an eye on 2022. We need to start by overhauling our campaigning reach, and as the only candidate in this race to have turned a marginal seat into one that now has a 21,000 majority, this proves Jeremy Hunt knows how to win. He is the obvious unity candidate, not just for our Party, but for the entire Country, as shown by his eagerness to deliver a Brexit that works for everyone, including the 48% who voted to Remain.

Jeremy’s natural ability to bring people with him and take on board the views of others shows he will able speak to all parts of the United Kingdom. He will appeal to people from all backgrounds and age groups, widening the Party’s appeal, defeating Corbyn and ensuring the prosperity and security of this great Country.

For the first time in our history as a political party, we are being asked not just to pick a Party leader, but also the next Prime Minister of our country. This requires us as Conservative members to ask who the best person for the job is. To do this objectively, we have to look at the realities of the candidate’s records and not be blinded by empty rhetoric or façade. Over the last year, Jeremy has been a first-class Foreign Secretary campaigning hard for British interests, and has proven to be a true statesman and patriot; someone who believes in Britain and will deliver in the national interest.

With a background in business and nearly 15 years in politics, Jeremy has the experience of negotiation needed to make him the right person to fight our corner against the EU. Beyond Brexit, his economic vision is ambitious – encompassing all of the opportunities a global Britain can be. As a Young Conservative, I am inspired by Jeremy’s vision and I am confident he will restore the fortunes of our great Party, but more fundamentally I also believe he will lead our country out of the EU and towards a more prosperous future to reclaim our position on the global stage.

17 June 2019 | OPINION

Dominic Raab may not become the next Prime Minister of this country, but if his tax proposals were introduced, it would give the party a desperately needed post-Brexit vision. We need to remember that we are most successful when we are a low-tax party, as this is the foundation of what we stand for as Conservatives. Looking forward to the 2020s, we need to continue to strive towards a low tax, high wage and low welfare society. ‘A vision for the 2020s’ is an unused phrase. Raab’s tax proposals offer the Conservatives the opportunity to claim this for our own.

It is important to remember that the Conservative Government has made positive progressive changes on tax. If you manage to get past the self-indulgent finger wagging of The Guardian, the left-wing protesters and the Twitterazi, there has clearly been a determined effort by this government to improve the life chances of the many. This has primarily been by cutting income tax. Over 30 million taxpayers have benefited from increasing the personal allowance from £6,475 in 2010 to £12,500 in April 2019. This means basic rate tax payers are paying over £1,200 less income tax than 9 years ago.

It is ridiculous when commentators suggest this tax cut disproportionately helps high earners, as it proportionately helps lower earners much more. When I was earning £15,000 a year working in jobs such as a support worker in a homeless hostel, this ongoing tax cut was hugely beneficial.

Even with this fantastic policy, the tax burden is still the highest it’s been for over 30 years. If we are to differentiate ourselves from Labour on tax, we need to adopt Raab’s tax plans without hesitation. With the government now running a surplus on day-to-day spending, we have the fiscal headroom to allow people to keep more of their own money. Raab’s first tax priority would be to raise the National Insurance threshold from just over £8,000 to match the personal allowance at £12,500. This would mean an extra £460 to low and middle earners – a hugely progressive policy.

Following the changes to National Insurance, the aim is to cut income tax by 5p over 5 years. This would clearly show a direction of travel from the Conservative Party, although Raab has made it clear that it wouldn’t be funded by more borrowing. This may mean higher taxes on unproductive wealth or further savings elsewhere. Even if this were the case, cutting income tax would still be a hugely popular move, as people would see their real pay increasing on a monthly basis.

The current government has made good progress in moving our country to a lower income tax, higher wage, lower welfare economy. With the budget deficit at sustainable levels, we should now go further and cut taxes for lower and middle earners. Raab’s tax polices offer the Conservatives a mission beyond Brexit that we should whole-heartedly embrace.

As Conservatives, we must never forget that we believe that taxpayers know how to spend their own money better than any government.

10 June 2019 | OPINION

For all that has been made of the sheer volume of wannabe leaders who have spent the last few weeks parading themselves in front of us, and irrespective of the ridiculousness of the narcotics top trumps, policy discussions in this leadership contest have been delightfully sensible and nuanced, especially on Brexit. Setting aside outliers like People’s Voter Sam Gyimah and people’s champion Rory Stewart, the only real dividing line between the candidates on Brexit is whether or not they are willing to countenance No Deal.

Boris Johnson is the unifier that the Conservatives need. The fact that he has won endorsements from Tory ultra-Brexiteers Steve Baker and Priti Patel whilst also enjoying support from “centrism” enthusiast Johnny Mercer (and a host of other moderates) speaks to his unique ability to bring Conservatives together behind a common desire to get Brexit done and a shared vision of a booming post-Brexit Britain.

A logjam in a hung parliament, combined with a rogue Speaker and an electoral populist explosion that is making the polls more volatile than the stock markets, means that pragmatism is an inescapable necessity. Rory Stewart may be the candidate preaching compromise and realism the loudest, but the only person truly putting that into action is Boris Johnson. Johnson’s entirely sensible, down-the-middle approach to Brexit is perfectly balanced to drag Britain through this crisis once and for all by winning back Conservative defectors from all directions.

Johnson intends to stare facts in the face and get to the bottom of Michel Barnier’s stern rhetoric once and for all by implementing a long-awaited now-or-never approach to Brexit: if substantial alterations to the Withdrawal Agreement are not offered in the coming months, we leave without a deal in October. Either way, by the end of the year, the all-consuming issue of Britain’s relationship with Europe will, with a bit of luck, have largely dropped off our national radar. Our political bandwidth will be freed up for the first time in years for exploring other pressing issues like violent crime, school funding and the environment.

On the fundamental point that pursuing a Hallowe’en Brexit is vital for both party and country, the candidates are broadly in agreement. Even Rory Stewart, who has momentarily captured the yearning gazes of the long-abandoned Twitter politicos, acknowledges that we should seek to leave the EU quickly and quietly.

Stewart is viewed admiringly by many as the brave compromise candidate, valiantly speaking the truths no one else dares confront. His ideology is a refusal to have an ideology. By beating everyone else to the punch and entering the leadership contest long before it began, he was able to seize the momentum and present himself as the voice of sensible Conservativism. When it comes to his actual policy pledges, though, his approach is terrifyingly creative.

He may have ruled out a second referendum, but Stewart has no qualms about circumventing democracy by simply ignoring the will of Parliament. His fetish for citizens’ assemblies is questionable, to say the least, and his bizarre assertion that a variation of the Duke of Edinburgh award should be compulsory has raised many eyebrows. This is in addition, of course, to his markedly unpragmatic commitment to taking No Deal off the table. He is not the compromise candidate – Johnson is.

Despite polling poorly with my fellow young Conservative members, Johnson remains the strong frontrunner to take up the leadership mantle next month. He has already achieved more MPs’ endorsements than any of his rivals. Perhaps the most significant of those, especially in terms of the youth vote, is that of Cabinet Secretary and freedom fanatic, Liz Truss.

Swathes of young Tories shed a collective tear when Truss announced that she would not stand in the leadership contest. Unlike Nigel Farage’s attention-hungry brand of media-driven populism, Truss’s politics truly do transcend the left-right dichotomy. She has greatly excited Tory Twitter by mirroring the thinking of neoliberal organisations like the Adam Smith Institute and promoting a youth-centric policy agenda founded on small-state conservatism and individual responsibility.

This worldview enjoys thumping endorsements from young Conservatives. In other words, liberty is the future of the Conservative party. That is why, before she dropped out, Truss was a roaring favourite for leader among us freedom-loving youngsters. The fact that she has now thrown her considerable weight behind Boris Johnson – and is therefore almost certain to take up a senior Cabinet position upon his coronation – sets him in yet stronger stead, not only to begin to heal the Brexit wounds, but to facilitate an optimistic, chin-up approach to building a bright post-Brexit future. Johnson brings together the best bits of Truss and Stewart, with a dash of Mercer and a hint of Baker, making him the candidate who can unite Conservatives of all colours behind a shared vision for a better Britain.

Given his support among both the parliamentary party and the membership, it looks inevitable that Boris Johnson will be Prime Minister by the end of next month. The obligatory caveat, of course, is that many said much the same thing in 2016. It seems safe to say that, short of a similarly extraordinary event to the one that left reporter Sam Coates visibly gobsmacked live on BBC News three years ago, Johnson will sweep to victory and, come Christmas, have executed Brexit and finally taken British politics off pause, setting us back on the road to a bright Conservative future.

7 June 2019 | OPINION

I, like many other Conservatives, long for the days in which the Conservative Party had a set of values, an ideological mission. We were the party that once wished to revolutionise, to reshape the landscape of Britain. Whether that was Disraeli in his social vision of the ‘One Nation’ unified in reform and patriotism, or Thatcher in her reversal of Britain’s managed decline, the Conservative Party throughout its history as the most electorally successful political party, has always had concrete values: that of freedom, prosperity and patriotism – and we, the modern-day party, require an urgent history lesson of how not only to win elections, but how to efficiently nurture these values, before it is too late.

Just as the party chose to revitalise these values with the election of Margaret Thatcher as leader in 1975, we today as Conservatives find ourselves at a crossroads. We can choose to continue our pandering to ‘Blair-lite’ social democracy, or find ourselves renewed with a dose of traditional conservatism by electing Sir Graham Brady as the Conservative Party leader. At a time when we are faced with growing socialist values, we must fight to combat them with the ideals of conservatism. Fire must fight fire, and we as Conservatives should be sound in the knowledge that our values have a track record in winning the fight, and therefore we can rest assured that, one day, we can return this country to stability.

One such Conservative who is not shy of old-school conservatism is, after all Sir Graham. The outgoing Chairman of the 1922 Committee can be seen to unify the Parliamentary party, rallying the activists and members at various events. Yet, his ace of spades is inevitably his commitment to see through and champion the traditional values of conservatism.

If we elect a careerist parliamentarian, one so out of tune with the needs of Britain, out of tune with the values of conservatism that inspire fellow party members to knock on doors and deliver leaflets through the temperament of our fine British weather and political turmoil, we will cease to be a political force, resigned to opposition for a generation. But, if we have the courage and the conviction to elect a true conservative, someone with convictions that we hold to be good – a man who sacrificed his ministerial career on the basis of the educational values he holds dear – then we can be re-energised.

Graham has values. A longstanding eurosceptic, committed to our departure from the European Union, an advocate against the ‘backstop’. A committed and resilient figure within the debate to retain the choice of selective education, which allows talented individuals from lower-income households to compete against the privileged few. Brady himself is the epitome of a meritocracy – he is the ‘boy who done good’, attending a Grammar School, attending university – becoming the youngest Conservative Member of Parliament at the point of his election in 1997.

We need a vision of hope and of tradition, and we require his skills of unification, negotiation and litigation to unite the Conservative Party behind a vision and pursuit not only of Brexit but of a continued period of Conservative governance. Will it be easy? No. But the first steps, the baby steps, are finding the courage within ourselves as members, Parliamentarians and the wider Conservative Party to stand up and be counted. To own our values, and to champion them. To sell our message that, throughout history, has been refined but not changed. We need a traditional Tory, a traditional campaign and a solid, proven message. Graham has that message – he has continually championed it – and as such deserves our support to become the next leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party.

We cannot merely rely on empty statements, slogans or gestures. We need steadfast commitment. Commitment to Tory Democracy, Law and Order, Freedom and Patriotism. For without that, we may as well merge into the creeping, yellow shade of the Liberal Democrats.