At this year's Freedom Zone in Birmingham, the Bruges Group held its annual Conference alongside the Conservative Party Conference. We gathered alongside friends old and new, to conduct our own evaluation of what went wrong at the last General Election.
Facing the worst electoral defeat in its history, the Conservative Party faces a choice - a choice of leader, a choice of direction. The Party has an opportunity to chart a path back to power.
Barry Legg, Chairman of the Bruges Group, announced at the Conference:
"There is only one candidate who can offer any prospect of a coherent policy agenda, and that is Robert Jenrick"
Sir Bill Cash, C.H., former Member of Parliament for Stone, discussed his time as a parliamentarian and major disruptor in the 1990s, when leading the Maastricht Rebels and his determination to return sovereignty to the United Kingdom. Sir Bill maintained that Brexit has been a success - because the basic right of self-government has been returned.
Sir Bill reiterated the importance of choosing the right Leader: "There is so much ground to catch up on, not only in terms of the seats we've got to reclaim, but in holding back the people who will either abstain or vote Reform."
Sir Bill said that using powers under the Nationality and Borders Act 2022. Unlike our neighbours, the United Kingdom is not bound by a written Constitution that puts international law first. Parliamentary Sovereignty is a unique part of the Constitution.
Andrew Rosindell, M.P. paid tribute to Margaret Thatcher and spoke about his journey in the Conservative Party, from the age of 14 to now.
Mr. Rosindell posed the question: "Are we going to recover? Are we going to rebuild? Are we going to go back to the foundations of Conservatism?"
Mr. Rosindell reiterated we all have a duty to make this happen, and all of us, in our constituencies, have a part to play. It is a choice between Conservatism or being potentially saddled with a divided right wing and a Labour government being in power for a long time. He referred to the disastrous result for the Canadian Tories in the 1993 Federal Election, where the right-wing vote was split with another Party, the Reform Party. Unity is strength, and the right-of-centre must be reunited once again.
Barry Legg spoke on the principles of leadership, and the Conservative Party's key failures, including on tax and immigration. Mr. Legg warned of the popularity of Reform UK - who got some 17% of the vote. There need to be long-term solutions to reunite the Conservative Party in order to win.
The rise in popularity of the far-right and other extremists will continue to be an issue election after election: this is no flash in the pan. The choice of Tory leader will be of great significance and Robert Jenrick is Mr. Legg's and the Bruges Group's candidate of choice.
Barry Legg, former Member of Parliament for Milton Keynes South West and Chairman of the Bruges Group, endorses the Rt. Hon. Robert Jenrick, M.P. for the leadership of the Conservative Party.
Now is the time to make the decision on who leads the Party - Robert Jenrick has shown he has the decisiveness and the policy ideas to lead the Conservatives back into government. We attach below Mr. Jenrick's clarion call to the country, and to the membership: the Tories need to deliver.
