Impact at the Tory Party Conference: Can Boris Get On With The Job of Levelling Up his Build- Back-Better Britain?

Peter Keenan reports on the Conservative Party Conference, noting that the event solidified Johnson’s cult of personality through boisterous and excitable slogans. He also reports that Johnson doubled down on fiscal conservatism and clarified the Tory’s line on Brexit negotiation.

If one thing is to be taken from the Conservative conference weekend, it is that the Conservative Party are utterly committed to selling their ‘Levelling Up’ agenda. The Prime Minister’s conference speech mentioned the phrase twelve times and a whole ministerial position has been assigned for the job. That minister (for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities), Michael Gove, attempted to sum up the scheme when he said during his speech: “You shouldn’t have to leave the places you love to enjoy the future you crave.” It seems we shall have to wait until the white paper for a better view of how exactly this is to be achieved.

Clear to the observer too was that Boris Johnson is an immensely popular front man. Ever the optimist, his keynote speech was filled with quips and humour such as ‘Build back burger’, a reference to the lifting of the 20-year ban on British beef imports into America. Chancellor Rishi Sunak also took to the stage and seemingly took a page out of Mr Johnson’s book, with a very upbeat speech enthusiastic for the future. Sunak announced an expansion of the Kickstart scheme, with a pledge to create 2,000 ‘elite’ AI scholarships for disadvantaged youths. Alongside this, Mr. Sunak made his stance on public finance clear: excessive borrowing is “economically irresponsible”, and “immoral” and this is why a tax rise is necessary at a time when debt is at a level almost exceeding GDP. This fiscal conservatism was accompanied by an equally conservative approach to big name projects. That is, unlike before the pandemic, there was no announcement of any big new schemes from the Treasury. Instead, there was an admission that the pandemic had been extremely costly and that it would have to be paid for.

Although there was nothing like the division and tension seen at the Labour Conference, there were a few voices that raised concern about the appropriate way to pay for money spent during the Coronavirus pandemic amongst both senior and younger MPs. MP for Bishop Auckland, Dehenna Davison, for example, told the BBC that she felt a national insurance increase “was completely the wrong approach”. Conservative MP Huw Merriman felt that it was unfair on younger generations to pay increased national insurance contributions when it would be the older, generally more financially secure generation, that will be using the service earlier. In the wake of the Sarah Everard murder, Home Secretary Priti Patel confirmed that there would be an inquiry into the Met to provide answers for the systematic failures which helped facilitate this horrendous incident. Although, it is worth noting that there have been calls for a greater inquiry amidst concerns that this first one will not be a fully independent review. Additionally, the Home Secretary announced that she will be introducing a Domestic Abuse Strategy later on this year, alongside an expansion of drug testing upon arrest in England and Wales. The only new policy announced by Boris Johnson was one spearheaded by the new Secretary for Education, Nadhim Zahawi: “a levelling-up premium of up to £3,000 to send the best maths and science teachers to places that need them most.” However, this new policy drew some criticism from Labour when they claimed it was an old and previously scrapped policy being reintroduced as new. Zahawi defended it as a useful policy to entice teachers into those science-based subjects where there has always been a shortage of staff.

On the matter of foreign policy, Lord Frost (Brexit Minister) said that the UK will not budge if Brexit talks concerning the border with Northern Ireland break down, even if the “EU retaliated with tariffs or other barriers to trade flow”. The Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, took a swipe at Labour members for voting against AUKUS, explaining that the deal is an opportunity that will create “hundreds of skilled jobs”, make “Britain safer” and draw closer ties with Britain’s natural allies. She also celebrated the fact that 68 deals had already been done, with countries around the world following Britain’s exit from the EU. Almost all of these, however, are ‘rollover’ deals, effectively resigning on the same terms as when Britain was a member of the EU.

The general mood at the Conservative Party Conference this year suggests that Johnson’s party is very keen to move on out of the pandemic and kick start their slogan-full agenda of ‘Levelling Up’, ‘Building Back Better’ and ‘Getting On With The Job’. Whether the Tory Government will be able to deliver on these accelerationist (although rather modest) promises is a judgement that must be made in a number of months’ time. What is certain, however, is that implementing these policies will prove significantly harder than devising catchy slogans for them.

By Peter Keenan

Illustration by Ciara Lurshay Page Design by Chiara Crompton