Stuart Eyles is a chartered engineer and has spent his 45-year career working on maritime programmes in the defence industry
There is much discussion about finding a leader who will unite the party, rebuild trust, and defeat Labour. However, none of this is going to happen until the Conservative Party is prepared to have the difficult debates about what it stands for and agrees on a common philosophy. A single individual, no matter how charming, is not going to unite the party by coercing different groups into hiding their views and continuing with the broad incoherent policies that have been so disastrous in the past.
The Conservative Party has to face up to two issues. The first is understanding the real problems faced by the country and agreeing on how they should be fixed. The second is understanding the new voter alignment and working out how to build a coalition of support that will attract enough voters to win an election.
Neither of these issues is trivial, but to be tackled, they both require the agreement of a clear set of simple principles that will attract voters by demonstrating competence and restoring honesty, authenticity, and trust.
A small number of clear and simple principles not only provide the framework for coherent policy-making, but also define what the Conservative Party stands for, align its members, establish its purpose, and build a broader coalition of support.
Principles also ensure that leadership candidates can be held to account for the promises that they all make, and the promises that will get one of them elected.
Fix the Problems
The pursuit of Social Democracy over the past 27 years has driven an enormous expansion in government, creating a high tax, high welfare economy reliant on high immigration to get the work done. The result is a sclerotic government, massive debts, unsustainable welfare dependency, and cultural tensions.
The only real way to dig the country out of its financial problems is to grow the economy, develop good quality jobs, and repair the public finances. Reducing welfare dependency requires a move away from government directives towards nationhood and social capital, whilst reducing the size of the state, in the hope of leading the way to more effective government.
These three aims can only be achieved if we embrace the freedoms that will unleash the power of the individual to innovate, create wealth, and build social capital. Â More socialism and short-term centralist ideas will not repair the damage.
Six principles emerge as the way to fix the problems. Lower market regulation, lower taxes and effective public services can achieve significant economic growth. High-growth nations show what can be achieved if these principles are adopted. Whilst a smaller state, personal responsibility, and nationhood can build social capital.
Our communities and neighbourhoods can use these principles to rebuild themselves and reduce the involvement of government in every conceivable problem. Together, these six principles achieve a coherent effect that will lead to simpler structures and more effective government.
However, principles cannot fix the problems on their own. The challenge is to create a set of coherent policies which together unleash the freedoms to deliver results. Policies will depend on the circumstances and will be numerous, but they must always support the delivery of these principles.
Build a Coalition of Support
To gain sufficient votes to win an election, the Conservative Party must build a coalition of support. Political alignments have now evolved beyond a simple economic left-right split to include national versus global identity, and to a lesser extent socially liberal or conservative views. As a result, there are now many more groups of voters, but many of whom share some overlapping views.
The Conservative Party needs to use these 6 principles to define what they stand for, and to draw together groups with overlapping views into the coalition. However, the Conservative Party cannot align with everyone. To create a long-term and stable coalition, it will need to make some bold decisions about which groups to work with and which to reject.
Fix the Party Machine
CCHQ and the party machine must wholeheartedly embrace the principles and use them to write a manifesto that will address the country’s problems. Establish the principles and policies first and then use them to persuade the voters to join the coalition of support.
These principles should become part of a long-lasting and memorable Conservative brand. Each constituency will need to select candidates who believe in these principles, so that members and voters can know who they are voting for and are motivated to turn out and vote.
More than anything else, restoring voter trust will hinge on how CCHQ creates clear, simple, consistent, and authentic messages. Attempts to avoid difficult decisions and to disenfranchise the members will be immediately transparent and counter-productive.
What Next?
A lot of members and politicians might not agree with the simplicity and transparency of these principles and not wish to be so clear in their beliefs. But that is the purpose. We need to agree on a small number of clear, simple, and consistent principles to restore honesty, authenticity, and trust.
Debate is needed to shape these principles and their associated policies. Trying to avoid the issues, by hiding away from them, simply will not work. Hearing from each leadership candidate about their principles would be a good start.
