Luke Hall is the former MP for Thornbury and Yate, and the former Minister of State for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education
The Conservative Party is in my blood. I joined the party aged 23. I have served the party at every level: as a constituency Chairman, an MP for nearly a decade, a Minister in multiple departments, and as Deputy Party Chairman. I’ve seen and done a lot.
So when I say the party is in a precarious position, I do not say so lightly. The General Election result was truly devastating. We were completely wiped out in parts of the country and the average age at which someone voted Tory rose from 39 to 63. Frankly, it was a near-extinction-level event.
Hundreds of hard-working colleagues who served as dedicated public servants were dragged below the waterline by the party’s brand. We became synonymous with infighting and a lack of delivery – and as a result, millions of our voters deserted us to alternative parties on the left and right.
The challenge we now face is immense. The trust we established for good governance was hard-fought and easily lost. We must now begin the long, painful road back to earning a hearing from the British public. This won’t be easy as I fear some think it will be. Anyone who spent time knocking on doors during the campaign knows the level of frustration and anger was deep.
Before we can rebuild, we must first listen to the public’s concerns, have the humility to be honest about our shortcomings, and change our party. In the face of such a comprehensive rejection by the electorate, continuity or minor tinkering will not work. It’s a recipe for 10 years of opposition while Labour worsens all the problems our country faces.
That reflection must start now. We had many achievements – like restoring the public finances, school reforms, getting Brexit done, and defeating Corbyn – but ultimately didn’t do enough to deliver on our 2019 promise to grow the economy, strengthen the NHS, and create a highly selective immigration system. All too often we shirked the big decisions or allowed ourselves to get blown of course.
Having won the Newark by-election in 2014, through to holding the seat in July in the face of MRP polls saying the opposite, I know that Robert Jenrick gets it. His messaging in Newark connected in a way much of the national content didn’t.
And that understanding of what’s needed extends right through to the party’s principles and policies. Jenrick has articulated the most compelling analysis of why the party failed, telling the hard truths our party needs to hear. And he has set out a positive vision for how the party can change, and unite around 10 time-honoured principles.
On our principal failure, migration, Jenrick has the credibility we desperately need to begin to restore trust. Against huge resistance he fought tooth and nail to secure the largest-ever reduction in legal migration. And ultimately he resigned on principle after being unable to persuade the Government to strengthen the Rwanda deterrent.
But his vision for the Conservative Party goes well beyond rejecting mass migration. I worked with Jenrick as a Minister when he was Housing Secretary, and he relentlessly pushed for supply-side reforms that generate growth – and none more so than planning reform. He made beauty a requirement of new house building designs, ensured densification was easier in our cities, and managed to raise the number of housing starts to their highest level in more than three decades.
Robert has also made clear that change starts with fundamental reform of party structures. Jenrick was the first candidate after the campaign to set out, here on this site, the need for a complete overhaul of CCHQ and an end to candidate stitch-ups.
When I was Deputy Chairman, I was involved in most of the parliamentary by-elections during the previous parliament. The results were certainly very mixed, but one thing was constant, Jenrick was there, every time, knocking on doors with a team of people, leading from the front.
During this election, Jenrick was fighting his own seat whilst still touring marginals, supporting other candidates, and knocking on doors. That’s the sort of leadership I want.
I want a leader who will walk through fire to support small-C conservatives across the country; those hard-working people, earning a wage and trying to look after their families and pay the mortgage. Someone who will have the courage of their convictions on immigration and who loves Britain to their core. These are views shared by millions, and we need someone who will lead the national debate on all of them.
All of these attributes make Jenrick the best placed to win back voters we lost at both ends of the spectrum. According to Ipsos polling (carried out in August 2024) Jenrick has the highest net favourability amongst current Conservative and Reform voters as well as being more favoured than other contenders with Labour and Liberal Democrat voters.
The road back will be long and winding, but with Robert Jenrick as our leader, it can be considerably faster.
