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Voters will think the Conservatives have “lost their marbles” if they try to replace Rishi Sunak after next month’s local elections, former minister Paul Scally says.
Councilor Sutton, 56, agreed that a bad result would cause “palpitations”, especially if the Conservatives lost high-profile mayors Andy Street and Ben Houchen, but he was wary of sacking Sunak. said he would be “insane.”
“I can’t imagine what the public would think if we started changing leaders now…They’d think we’ve lost our marbles.”
Mr Scully has no reason to love the Prime Minister, who sacked him from his Cabinet position last November and has done little to help the Conservative Party’s subsequent London mayoral bid. Mr Scully has served as Minister for London since February 2020 and as Under-Secretary of State for Technology and the Digital Economy from October 2022.
But Mr Scully, who announced his decision to resign from parliament last month, decided to tell his party some homegrown truths, particularly about the dangers of speaking to ever-shrinking audiences and internal strife.
“If you focus only on core voting, you will eventually reduce that core to nothing,” he recently posted on X. “Let’s talk more about housing, which is why we started renting in the first place because homeownership has moved away from too many people. Let’s show real connection and empathy with other generations. , we risk driving ourselves into an ideological dead end.”
“The standard deviation model is true in politics as well. Most people are somewhere in between. You can manipulate the bell curve, or you can be at the bell end. We need to make that decision. Voters are already doing that. I’m worried that he might be there!”
So what can Mr Sunak say to convince all voters that the Conservative Party is more than just a lobbying group for older homeowners?
“The first thing I really have to say is that somethingI’m being a bit flippant, but I literally haven’t heard anything at this point. ”
He argues the party should not allow Labor to dominate the reform agenda and instead push forward with radical moves to boost housebuilding. Similarly, the company hopes to see further efforts for tenants, including improvements in pay and job security.
But Mr Scully acknowledged that the recent watering down of legislation to improve tenant rights was the result of “short-termism and vested interests”.
He says the Conservative Party has lost its talent for building internal coalitions. “Somewhere along the line the foundations have crumbled, and until we restore them, by forming loose coalitions and recognizing that politics is the art of creating possibilities, we will never get anywhere.
“Whoever the next leader is, he has to be the leader of a party that currently has no leadership,” he says.
How did this happen? Mr Scully, himself an ardent Brexiteer, blames the debate for the rancor.
“What we saw through the years of Brexit, when Parliament was at a standstill, was that many people were saying things they couldn’t help but say.”
“The problem is that it becomes easier the next time around. Since then, we have been debating approaches to different things, like lockdowns and the economy. They are looking for ways to come together. Instead, they are looking for ways to drag the party into their mold.”
He says that even when the Conservative Party does address real concerns, it too often speaks in language aimed at a very small group of people.
“If you look at some of the Suelas; [Braverman] Some say there is nothing fundamentally wrong about immigration. ” Wrapping, on the other hand, alienates “large groups.”
Susan Hall, the woman who defeated Mr. Scully in the London mayoral election, made a misjudgment when she attacked London for its rampant crime. She said: “I just needed a basic sense check.”
Winning a seat in the party leadership by appealing to “ideological purity” will only ensure defeat in the general election, he says. “You will be denounced as an opposition leader.”
“My biggest fear is that people won’t listen to us. We’ll just end up talking to the Conservative minority.”
Scully believes she was fired because she revealed to others that she was considering resigning as an MP. She felt the dismissal was “cruel”.
He told how he saw the Chief Whip’s number appear on his phone five minutes into an online meeting with Michael Gove. Thinking it was just a courtesy to let him know he was there, he paused the meeting and answered the phone, but he never returned. “I stood up, hugged my private secretary and walked away.”
A pernicious feature of politics, he says, is that in party management quiet, collegiate faculties are far less likely to flourish than prickly and troublesome issues. But unless the Conservatives find team spirit from somewhere, he says, they are doomed.
“We’ve talked a lot about the next leader and what the next leader will be, but that’s for another time. To win 4-3 in overtime after being down by three points at halftime… You can, but only if you’re all attacking the same goal, and if you’re punching each other at the halfway line, you have no chance. Chance.”