“It's going to be really odd”: How will the Conservative Party Conference work without a clear next leader?
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The Conservative Party hasn't held a party conference in opposition for 14 years.
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In brief…
- The Conservative Party Conference kicks off in Birmingham next week.
- Rishi Sunak has confirmed he will not make a headline speech, leaving room for the four remaining leadership contenders to make their pitch.
- The News Agents say this makes it almost completely ”unique”, and look forward to bringing you everything as it happens.
What’s the story?
The Labour Party was riding on a high at its conference in Liverpool last week. With a headline speech from Keir Starmer and others from members of his cabinet, there were perhaps no major surprises.
But in Birmingham, things are a bit more up in the air. That’s because the party still hasn’t chosen its next leader.
Who will do the headline speech? Who do the party members and delegates cheer for?
And which familiar faces will be missing from the conference hall?
These are the questions The News Agents ponder on today’s podcast.
Which high-profile MPs will speak at the conference?
One thing we know for certain is that each leadership contender gets a speech
That leaves room for Tom Tugendhat, Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick and James Cleverly, who are all still in the race to replace Rishi Sunak.
And how people respond could give a hint as to who the party is backing.
Emily says: “We will be measuring the clapometer. In essence we will see when we go around, are people there Kemi people? Are they Jenrick people? Are they Tom [Tugendhat] people?”
While he is still technically leader, Sunak, who led the Tories into its biggest electoral defeat in history back in July, will not be giving the headline speech like he has in the past.
Jon says: “When Rishi Sunak made his speech, they cheered for him. When it was Liz truss, they cheered for her.
“The Tories like to get behind their leader, at least at the conference. Who do they get behind? it's going to be really odd.”
Who will be missing?
Politics moves fast and it might all feel like ancient history, but do you remember all those Conservative MPs who lost their seats in the general election?
“Everyone that you think of going to the Tory Party Conference won't be there”, says Emily.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, for instance, lost his seat in Somerset North East & Hanham to Labour's Dan Norris.
“I can't remember a tory conference without Jacob Rees Mogg”, Emily says.
Jon says that of the former, living Conservative Prime Ministers, of whom, there are six, none would be there.
What’s The News Agents’ take?
The truth is, Emily says, “we are going like little moles blindly to Birmingham this weekend, not really knowing what to expect”.
She adds: ‘We don't really know. We're quite excited. We'll bring you everything as it happens.”
One thing is for sure - the leadership contenders will be trying to make a good impression.
Lewis says: “Given the membership is so small and given that a decent tranche of them will be there, it is a genuinely great opportunity for the leaders or the wannabe leaders to actually meet the electorate and and try and win their votes.”
He adds: “The most similar conference that I suppose it would be like, is that famous story of 2005 where David Cameron emerged as leader.
“This conference has basically been inspired by that, hoping someone would emerge like Cameron over a kind of long campaign.”
But the difference then was, Lewis notes, that “the party felt like it was on the way up, rather than just having been trounced”.
“The grammar of it and how its works is going to be almost completely unique.”
Listen in full on The News Agents.
