To Manchester for a tale of two Conservative conferences. The official one is taking place in the cavernous central convention complex under the snigger-inviting slogan: “Taking long-term decisions for a brighter future.” Rishi Sunak has just one extremely short-term goal this week: to persuade his party, the media and any voters bothering to pay attention to reconsider the assumption that a Tory defeat at the general election is a certainty. “It’s an unusually important conference for the leader,” remarks one former cabinet minister. “Rishi has got to put on a show.”
Many Tory MPs do not see brightness in their future. That’s not just because of serial byelection losses and the hefty deficit in the opinion polls to Labour. Tory fatalism about their prospects is also sourced in despair that their leader has neither the appeal nor the acumen to turn things around. His personal approval ratings, which were not bad in the circumstances when he took over after the madness of Liz Truss, have plummeted to dire levels.
