Croft Leadership Launch

[Will Frost]

William Croft heads to the marginal seat of Battersea, where he plans to launch his bid for the leadership of the Conservative Party. Members of the Conservative Party from associations across the country have been invited to join the event, and Mr. Croft stops to speak with assembled supporters before taking the stage. As he bounds up the stairs, with the Thames framing the platform, Croft waves and smiles to the audience before beginning his speech.

Good morning, Battersea! I am delighted to be here with you all to launch my bid for the leadership of the Conservative Party.

I come here today, as a man who was born and raised in London, to make a very clear and deliberate statement about the state of our party. This constituency, Battersea, was a seat we should have won in the previous election. In fact, there are seats across the whole of London that our party should have won in the previous election. I am launching my bid to be the next leader of our party for one simple reason: if we don’t get our act together, if we don’t recommit ourselves to the core values that make our party what it is, seats like Battersea will never again be represented by Conservatives. That’s not a future I am willing to accept, and together we can ensure the people of London and people across Britain are provided with the Conservative representation they deserve.

I was incredibly lucky to be raised by my mother Madeleine, a hardworking, deeply caring single mother who was determined to provide her son with a better life. When she wasn’t working as a nurse at our local hospital, a job she still holds to this day, she was spending all of her time making sure I got a good education and had all of the tools necessary to make the most out of my life.

Today I am announcing my intention to become the next Leader of the Conservative Party for her and all people like her across the United Kingdom, namely those who work hard, who care for their loved ones, their communities and who deserve a Government that will help them succeed.

These values are Conservative values, and that is why I am so determined to put our party in a position where we can return to Government and make our country work for everyone. I believe passionately in our party, and more importantly, I believe passionately in Britain. We Conservatives believe that no matter where you’re from, no matter who your parents are, and no matter your wealth that you deserve an equal shot at success. We believe that the only thing that should determine your lot in life is how hard you’re willing to work to better yourself and your family. And we believe in personal responsibility, that in a just society one’s actions should have consequences. In an era of New Labour spin, a failed Prime Minister devoid of any real conviction, and constant Government infighting, our country needs a strong dose of Conservative Party principles now more than ever.

I think that for too long, we have allowed ourselves to be defined by New Labour. By the naysayers and the spin doctors who want to convince people, to convince us, that we are the party of the few. But that could not be farther from the truth. We are the party of upward mobility, of opportunity, of social justice. Our outgoing leader, William Hague, deserves a massive debt of gratitude for the work he has done to get us back on the path to victory. Our performance in this last general election is a credit to his hard work and dedication. However, more must be done to bridge the gap between where we stand now and winning the next election. The task that lies ahead of us as a party is to make that final leap, and once again prove to the British people that we deserve the honor of governing on their behalf.

So how do we do this? How do we bring back the sense of purpose and confidence that has made us the most successful political party in modern history? I would suggest that we do so by recommitting ourselves to the core values that make the Conservative Party what we really are. I believe those principles are very simple: a belief in freedom, a commitment to justice, and the idea that everyone has the right to aspire for something greater. Freedom, justice, and aspiration are the foundation of our party, and we must not shy away from putting them at the forefront of everything we do.

Our values are not the problem, indeed they are what makes our party so great. Our problem is with how we present them, how we present ourselves, and how we translate those core values into actionable policies. We have spent too much time attacking the other side, and not nearly enough presenting a positive message for an alternative way forward. We must change our approach to politics, reject business as usual, and present a new message of optimism and opportunity to the British people. We must fundamentally change how our party works in order to change Britain for the better.

We could delay the inevitable, and push off those changes for another election. We could wait another 4 years, lose the next general election, and then finally get our act together in the hopes of one day returning to power. To that suggestion, I would merely say this: there is no sense in putting off for tomorrow what we could accomplish today.

As your leader I believe we should make our case to the British people by addressing how we talk about and act upon our core values. This is how I intend to do it:

Our Party must passionately believe in the right of every British person to live in a free country and to have personal liberty. Individual freedoms and personal liberties are the bedrock of our democratic society, and the Conservative Party must establish ourselves as fierce advocates for them as we move forward into the 21st century. That starts by codifying into law a British Bill of Rights, formally enshrining the key rights and liberties all free British citizens should enjoy. We must also be determined to claw back the powers taken from our Parliament by the European Union, ensuring that the laws that govern our people are made by our people, and instituting a referendum lock on future transfers of power from Parliament to Brussels.

And while we’re on the subject of the EU, let me just say: a free country is not truly free if it’s currency is controlled by a foreign power and that is why we must never give up the pound! We must guarantee that we have independent and sovereign control over our monetary policy and our economy. The Conservative Party under my leadership will never entertain the idea of accepting the Euro, and will lead a full throated campaign in fighting against it if this Labour Government dares to bring the issue to a vote.

On the subject of controlling our economic destiny, we also need to be bold in making the case to the British people that personal freedom cannot exist without economic freedom. That means setting out our commitment to cut individual taxes, take more people out of tax altogether, and keeping corporation tax and business regulations low to support small businesses and entrepreneurs. For us Conservatives, cutting taxes isn’t a one off deal we do every now and then to win votes. It is a fundamental belief that money is spent better by the people who earn it, and that our economy is more dynamic and more capable of supporting all people when enterprise is free to grow unencumbered by the state.

As a Party, we Conservatives must be committed to cultivating and maintaining a truly just society. Justice isn’t just a clever buzzword, but a genuine way of life and value system that is critical to British democracy. People must have confidence that the laws they are being asked to follow are fair, that we are a society of law and order, and that the state is their servant and not their master.

Our party must be unapologetic in our support of the police; hiring more of them, cutting red tape to get them out from behind their desks and back onto the street, and using the law to give them powers like stop and frisk to ensure they have the tools to get the job done. We must advocate for a criminal justice system that is firm but fair; raising sentences on violent offenders, putting in place tough mandatory sentences for drug dealers, and providing second chances to youth offenders that can be successfully rehabilitated.

We also must be determined to crack down on the unduly high levels of immigration, supporting the hardworking immigrants who make Britain great while being ironclad in our determination to push back on the unlimited flow of immigrants we’re seeing from European Union countries. We must also make sure that we tighten the criteria for immigrants to access benefits and strengthen the rules for employment based migration so that we ensure the welfare system and job market is not open to abuse or overpopulation.

Additionally, it is critical that we as a party work to make our democratic systems more fair, by for example ensuring that insofar as devolution continues to be the law of the land that English MPs have the sole authority to make decisions over matters relating only to England.

And finally, we must position ourselves to be the Party of aspiration and upward mobility. Margaret Thatcher gave our country and its economy a much needed wake up call when she introduced the free market policies that allowed people to become home owners and shareholders, and I believe our country is overdue for another wake up call. That means using education as a tool for upward mobility; bringing back the Assisted Places scheme that Labour so foolishly abolished, hiring more teachers and prioritizing classroom discipline, and encouraging the creation of Free Schools that will allow students to access the highest quality education regardless of their income. We should be simultaneously supporting vocational work by creating more apprenticeships, and making it more affordable for young people to receive a university education. We should be in the business of reducing barriers for entrepreneurs to start their businesses, cutting needless regulations and creating Enterprise Zones in struggling inner cities.

We should look to the challenge of climate change as an opportunity rather than something we sweep under the rug, reinvigorating our role as the party of conservation for our forests and unleashing the power of the free market and investment to reign in carbon emissions and keep our planet healthy for our children and grandchildren. Britain must be the land of opportunity, and it will be the Conservative Party that ensures every child has the right to realize their dreams so long as they are willing to work for them.

When it comes to the Conservative Party as an institution, I’d like to speak briefly about what I think needs to change. I think it’s critical that we work together as a party to ensure we look and sound like the people we hope to represent. That means endeavoring to get more women into elected office, and supporting candidates that actually live in the areas they are fighting to represent. It also means channeling our love for democracy into the inner workings of our party. I’d like to see Party Conferences become less of events that are dominated by pre prepared, set piece speeches and more open forums of debate and discussion.

To that vain, I would like to empower party members to propose motions on party policy that will be vigorously debated, and if passed, become official Conservative Party policy. Membership to our party, and really to political parties across the board, has fallen drastically over the last decade. Let’s change that by giving people a reason to become party members, by empowering them to meaningfully influence the party they call their political home.

I believe that politics can be a force for good, but only if it is rooted in conviction and used to put power into the hands of the British people. For the past four years we’ve seen a brand of politics in New Labour that is totally devoid of conviction, with Ministers making U-turn after U-turn at record speed. The British people are fed up with the endless spin, the diversion tactics, and the total lack of genuine concern coming out of Parliament.

The time for change is now, and I have absolute confidence that the Conservative Party can and will be that change. By focusing on our core principles of freedom, justice, and aspiration we can reinvigorate the power of our nation and public trust in our governing institutions. Together, if we are willing to do the hard work of becoming the party I know we are capable of being, we can change our party and change our country for the better. Let’s get to work.

[Barclay A.A. Stanley]

An opening salvo in the Conservative leadership bid. Will Croft, as is becoming a trend, gives a grandiose speech which lacks in focus and narrative but is replete with ideas. His problem is that he is talking to assembled supporters, not policy wonks, and that is reflected in his reception. What does the average party supporter want to hear? A rousing, emotive speech that rallies the troops. What does Will Croft offer? A list of policies, and a chiding for being a little too nasty in approach. I'm not saying he's wrong to want to change the Tories' approach to public relations--if we learned anything from 1997, it is that a huge victory can be won by a good PR team; I am saying that this speech would come off better in front of, say, the Bow Group or the ERG. Instead, he delivers it to the supporters and it does fall a little flat. Please note that this is not to say that this is a bad speech; it is just the wrong speech for the audience. When you're talking to the rank and file of the membership, you need to inspire them.

Onto the meat and potatoes of the speech: Croft spends the first part of his speech spinning a yarn about his unlikely upbringing. His single mother worked yard, yadda yadda. If Tony Blair was guilty of starting the process of Americanization of British politics, William Croft wants to finish the job. Let's remember something here: the Conservative Party in the early noughties is pre-Cameron. The soft and cuddly Tory approach is not yet adopted and it is going to take a lot of work, and a lot of things falling in place to make it so. Focusing on the fact that you are the child of an unwed mother, and giving William Hague credit so soon after he was discovered to have a hidden homosexual past is perhaps not the most likely way to ingratiate you to the stuffy old people who make up the party's base. He should, perhaps, have focused on his sterling military record, his decorations, her national service, and his reputation as a champion of rural Britain. The way he starts here does not necessary put him on the wrong foot, so much as an awkward, skeptical foot.

Then Croft gets berried deep into the muck and mire of policies. I've gone on at length already about this, overall, so I won't waste much time here. Still, some of the policies hit their mark and others will take some convincing. Let the reader understand: every speech should have some policy in it; but the most important thing, especially when speaking to rank and file, is crafting (crofting?) a narrative that the policy is a part of. As I have written when grading previous Croft speeches, he tends to write like a shotgun: big spray, hit every point, hope something sticks. In a speech, this is decidedly not the best way to make the biggest impact. It is the best way to be sure to make some impact; unfortunately, when you spray widely like that, you might also hit unintended targets. That's what Croft does here. His talk about restoring discipline in schools, fighting New Labour's spin machine, and lowering taxes are good. They each probably deserve their own, targeted speeches or op-eds, but they work. He hits, however, a few points that might have been better left out: Europe, a divisive issue to be sure and one where his comments are not necessarily in synch with his chosen audience; his comments about "stop and frisk" (which is really "stop and search") and his comments about members being able to propose and vote on policy bely a bit of ignorance. Police already have the right to stop and search, and party members already propose and vote on policy at the annual conference. This is the danger of shooting from the hip--you can get things wrong and look a little silly.

Overall, it's not a bad speech but it isn't a good one either. It is very middling and sort of just reinforces people's already-formed opinion of Croft: he likes a gab, he likes a camera, he doesn't always have the most to say. No XP for this one.