Mark Yale is a local Conservative campaigner.
As party members, we have the privilege to pick who will be the next leader of the Conservative party. The leader we choose will need to steer the party through the rebuilding process, hold Labour to account and take us back into power.
It is important when voting for the next leader we do not lose sight of the big picture of who actually votes for the Conservative party.
As members we equate to less than three per cent of the Conservative vote at the 2024 General Election (roughly 170,000 members vs 6.8m votes). It is thus essential that we choose a leader who understands this and has a plan for how they would retain support amongst non-members and win back the votes we lost to all quarters.
Research shows members of political parties tend to be more at the edges ideologically than those who are not members of political parties. We need to bear this in mind when selecting the next leader.
Choosing a leader who will stand on an ideological platform or is unwilling to show compromise to unite the different factions will limit the ability to deliver and risks putting the party at odds with the wider Conservative vote and electorate.
Jeremy Corbyn proved this perfectly. He won the ideological battle within his party and was hugely popular with the membership. Yet, at the 2019 election, the traditional Labour vote and centre-ground voters recognised that his Labour party was dangerously left-wing; this contributed to our overwhelming victory.
The lesson? That being strong on ideology does not deliver the keys to Number 10.
Political parties win elections when they are a broad-church and show they can deliver on a range of promises. Each side of the party prevents the other from becoming too dominant and therefore helping the party to keep in touch with the public and focus on delivering their priorities.
There are many good examples of when we have operated as a broad church, from legalising gay marriage to delivering a referendum on EU membership.
Each of these examples were supported and opposed by different sections of the party. Successful delivery of these ideologically different policies were priorities for the public but importantly showed that as one party we can deliver for different sections of society.
Sir Keir Starmer stood mostly on a broad-church platform rather than an ideological platform. Despite having a mainly centre-left manifesto, he ensured he kept the left of his party onside with specific left-wing policies, for example promising to return power to the unions by scrapping anti-strike laws.
This shows a blueprint and route which the Conservative party should copy and take to get back into power.
Yes, have policies or ideas that appeal to the right of the party and right leaning section of the vote base. But these cannot be the only policies we offer. We must offer deliverable centre-right policies that appeal to the large swathes of centre ground voters who grudgingly voted Labour last month.
To achieve this, we need a leader – whether they are from the right or centrist section – who can unite the party and is willing to listen to the public rather than just the membership.
When casting our vote, we should vote for the candidate who has shown they have the potential to take us back into power and deliver a Conservative Government, rather than the candidate who most aligns with our personal ideology.
Starmer won with the smallest vote share in history and low approval ratings. The electorate was not enthused by him in the way they were with Blair; rather, due to our failure to deliver, they wanted a change and he was the only credible alternative.
If we select the right leader, returning to power at the next general election is a very real possibility.
