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Tag: 2005 Conservative Party Conference

  • Theresa May – 2005 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    Below is the text of the speech made by Theresa May to the Conservative Party Conference held on 3 October 2005.

    “It’s great to be back amongst so many friends.

    When I was Chairman, I met thousands of you as I visited constituencies across the country.

    I know how hard you all work — not just at election time, but week in, week out — to spread the Conservative message.

    And, as an MP, I know that none of us would be here without you.

    So thank you.

    Of course, if you listened to the Liberal Democrats before the election, I wasn’t supposed to be here at all.

    Well so much for Mr. Kennedy’s decapitation strategy.

    There’s only one head that Liberal Democrats want to see roll now.

    And that’s yours Charlie!

    I want to talk this afternoon about the next Conservative Government.

    Not just about what we will do when we are in power — as if we only have to wait four more years before it happens.

    But about the roadmap — the hard work and the tough choices — that will take us there.

    Government is about people.

    And right now, the people of this country need our help more than ever.

    But, if we are to win the opportunity to help them, and to change life in Britain for the better…

    There are three things we will have to do.

    First, we are going to have to change the way we conduct our politics.

    Tony Blair chose to use his first major speech after the election to talk about restoring ‘respect’ on our streets.

    Can you imagine how sweet those words sounded to someone whose life is affected daily by Britain’s drink-fuelled yob culture?

    And then think how they feel now with the Prime Minister insisting on 24-hour drinking laws.

    Cheated, betrayed, conned.

    And a little less likely to trust anything a politician promises, ever again.

    There is a problem with respect in Britain.

    We do need urgently to restore respect for people and property.

    But it’s more than that too.

    It’s the respect for government that has been steadily eroded by years of broken promises.

    And it’s the respect for government that we will have to restore — if we are to persuade people there is a better way.

    You see, the status quo always favours the incumbent.

    Labour know that no-one trusts them, but they still won in May, so they don’t care.

    All they care about is that no-one trusts us either.

    So we have to change that.

    It won’t be easy.

    I know some people say that the main job of the opposition is to oppose.

    And, as an opposition, the temptation is always to throw the punch — to grab the headline.

    But we’ve done that for eight years.

    And where has it got us?

    The real job of this Party — the real way we will win people’s respect — is to stop being today’s opposition and start being tomorrow’s government.

    So, from now on, we will have to be scrupulously honest and painfully reasonable.

    We’ll have to stop opposing for opposition’s sake — and resist all temptation to be opportunistic.

    And we will have to show people what we stand for — and then stick to those ideals and principles — even when that means supporting the Government if they get things right.

    The second thing we have to do is reform our Party.

    We have to show that we are a Party comfortable with Britain as it is today.

    A Party representative of men and women — of every age, race, and religion.

    A Party as at home in the cities as it is in the country.

    A Party as confident about the future as it is about the past.

    And we must reflect that — not just in our words — but in our attitudes.

    In today’s Britain, the vast majority of people regard equality between man and women as so obvious it doesn’t even need stating.

    And yet, for too long, in too many parts of this Party, the assumption has been that politics is a man’s job.

    And the other parties aren’t much better.

    But Margaret Thatcher proved that your ability to lead your country depends on your talent and your courage, not on whether you are a man or a woman.

    And for the small minority who don’t accept women — or black or gay people — as their equals, I’ve got a message.

    Don’t think you’ll find a refuge from the modern world here.

    There is no place for you in our Conservative Party.

    Because every day that we are unwilling to embrace a future in which all men and women respect each other as absolute equals — is another day we will be out of government.

    But I’m optimistic.

    I know we’re moving forward.

    That’s why our benches have been swelled by great new MPs like Adam Afriyie, Shailesh Vara, Maria Miller, and Anne Milton.

    I know that all of you, the real Conservative Party, are with them and with me.

    And anyone who wants to stop us had better get out of our way.

    I spend much of my time focusing on how the Conservative Party has to change.

    I do it for a reason.

    I want us to win.

    And not just win, but govern — and govern well.

    That’s the third thing the Conservative Party needs to do.

    Focus on exactly what it means to govern well.

    In 1979, the bonds of state dependency were obvious.

    They tied down our economy and made us a laughing stock.

    Today, the bonds of state control are often invisible.

    But they are there — and they are tightening.

    The difference is that New Labour prefer to run everything remotely by dictat and regulation.

    That way they get to interfere all they want, but can pass the buck when things go wrong.

    We should be willing to turn all that on its head.

    I want us to reject BIG government — government that tries to do everything and ends up achieving nothing.

    The hands-on, control-freaky, government-knows-best mindset that Labour, new or renewed, can never escape.

    But I want us to reject SMALL government too — and with it the assumption that politicians have no responsibility for peoples lives.

    So let’s put the myth to rest once and for all.

    Size doesn’t matter!

    Just because government is often part of the problem…

    Doesn’t mean it can never be part of the solution.

    Instead, I want the Conservative Party to stand for GOOD government.

    Government’s job is helping people live their lives — throughout their lives — as they raise and protect their families, build their careers, and save for their retirements.

    Listening to people’s needs, and taking responsibility for the things that matter to them.

    Making sure they get the education and healthcare they deserve, keeping them safe, providing a fallback should life take a wrong turn, and helping them with the childcare or the care home place they need but can’t afford.

    Of course, we all know that, often, the best thing government can do is simply stay out of the way.

    To allow people to give their time freely to help others — as I know so many of you do.

    But sometimes, to do its job, government needs to get stuck in.

    So good government has to be prepared to be active, strong, and effective — whenever it needs to be.

    Good government should be both idealistic and pragmatic.

    Idealistic in what it aims to achieve.

    Ruthlessly pragmatic in how it sets out to achieve it.

    There is no need to choose between the two.

    And if it does its job well, the impact of government can be enormously beneficial.

    If it does it badly, it can be oppressive and corrosive.

    Labour don’t understand that.

    We do.

    If the Conservative Party could only change the way we conduct our politics, and restore respect in government…

    Then people would take a fresh look at us.

    If we could show not only that we are comfortable with modern Britain — but that we reflect modern Britain…

    Then people might listen to what we have to say.

    But they won’t listen for long if we don’t hold their attention.

    We don’t just need to convince them that we want the things they want — world-class education, better healthcare, safer streets.

    We need to show them— how we can make it happen.

    And we won’t KEEP them interested — if we just talk about dry academic concepts like localism, decentralization, and the size of the state.

    So let’s start speaking the language of people — talking about the concrete things we would do to improve their lives — focusing on what should happen in the public services, not just on how they are structured.

    Because if we paint a picture of the good Conservative Government that we know we can be — then we can win the next election.

    I stand before you today as the Conservative Party’s first ever Shadow Secretary of State for the Family, and for Culture, Media, and Sport.

    Supported by my excellent team, Malcolm Moss, Hugh Robertson, Hugo Swire, Andrew Selous, Tim Loughton, William Astor, Arthur Luke, and Trish Morris.

    You know, I’ve been struck recently by the similarities between politics and sport.

    Just a few years ago, England lost to New Zealand and we were called the worst cricket team in the world.

    This summer England beat Australia — to become the best in the world.

    So have faith — anything is possible if you work hard enough to achieve it.

    The other highlight of the summer was London winning the Olympic Games with the bid team lead by Seb Coe.

    Wasn’t it great to see a Tory winning a vote against the odds?

    Winning AT the Olympic Games requires years of sacrifice, hard work, and single-minded dedication.

    Winning an election is much the same.

    A successful athlete must give up the nights out and the fast food.

    If the Conservative Party is going to win the gold medal in four years’ time — it too is going to have to give up some enjoyable but ultimately damaging vices.

    Ya-boo, opportunism, intellectual self-indulgence, ideological obsessions, quick fixes, and easy answers.

    I’m afraid they’ve all got to go.

    But then there’s something else as well.

    London’s bid to host the Olympic Games involved not just graft but vision — not just perspiration but inspiration.

    And that’s what we, the Conservative Party, have to offer too.

    You see, you can win a race without the crowd on your side — by training hardest, by being the best.

    And, of course, you won’t win if you’re not.

    But you can’t win an election like that — no matter how good you are.

    To win an election — to be confident of victory — you have to inspire people — you have to make them want you to win.

    I hardly need to tell you how successful the Conservative Party can be — when it inspires people with the possibilities of change and progress.

    Margaret Thatcher inspired people.

    She gave them a glimpse of a better future.

    And she delivered it!

    So let’s inspire people again.

    Let’s find that confidence and belief that for so long we seemed to have lost.

    The confidence to dream.

    The belief in our power to achieve.

    This week we begin to set our new course.

    We have four years’ of work in front of us.

    They will go past in the blink of an eye.

    So we have to choose the right path — right now.

    Let’s remind people what a Conservative Government can achieve.

    Let’s inspire them with what the next Conservative Government would achieve.

    And let’s be ready — once again — to transform our great country.

  • Ken Clarke – 2005 Conservative Party Conference Speech

    kenclarke

    Below is the speech made by Ken Clarke at the 2005 Conservative Party Conference on 4th October 2005.

    I do not know about you, but I am fed up with our party losing elections.

    We used to be members of a party that won elections. In fact, we won so many that we were able to change the political and economic landscape of this country

    hugely for the better. In the 21st century, we can and we must do this again.

    If you are sometimes fed up and angry with our plight – as I am – you have a choice. You can give up, bail out, and call it a day. Or you can get stuck in, decide to fight, and give it your all. That is what I intend to do – and I know it is what you intend to do.

    So we come here today as a party with a purpose. It is to begin a great endeavour – nothing less than to make our Conservative Party once again the natural party of government in this country.

    In winning power, the economy will always be at the heart of the debate, and rightly so.

    You can have marvellous policies on every other subject, but if you do not win the argument on the economy, you are sunk. You are left with a political doughnut with an enormous hole in the middle.

    I do not have to prove my economic competence to the British public. I won my reputation over four years as Chancellor.

    Remember the strong economy which Labour inherited from us in 1997: low inflation; steady growth; falling debt. We were creating a modern enterprise economy.

    We worked for it. We achieved it. Labour has profited from it.

    Up until now, Gordon Brown has had a good run, on the back of the tough decisions which we took a decade ago.

    But today the British economy is at risk. At risk from big spending, from high taxes and from too much debt.

    He’s already spending tomorrow’s taxes today. He is keeping the economy afloat on a sea of debt.

    Growth is slowing rapidly and unemployment is on the rise. Families across the country find themselves burdened with a trillion pounds of household debt.

    Consumers are cutting their spending and our retailers are feeling the pain.

    Initially Mr Brown was in denial. Now even he has finally admitted that his forecasts for economic growth were wildly optimistic – as every expert said.

    His “golden rule” turned out to be fool’s gold.

    He even had to change the starting date of the economic cycle to include the two years of surplus that he only achieved by sticking to my spending figures when

    Labour came to power. I suppose you might call it a compliment.

    The tragedy is that Gordon Brown could have done great things with our inheritance. But he’s blown it. He has turned out to be just another tax and spend Labour Chancellor, but on a lucky streak.

    No wonder he is anxious to move next door!

    In fact, I have never seen a man more impatient to leave his job. His office is all packed up. The good-bye drinks are in the diary. He knows where he wants to hang his pictures in Number 10.

    The only problem is – the boss won’t budge. But even if he does, there’s no escape. Brown’s legacy will haunt him; we’ll make sure of that.

    The fact is that the Labour Party has never really understood how a modern, successful market economy works. They just don’t get it.

    Where our instinct, as Tories, is to set the people free, theirs is to organise, regulate and control. It is in their very blood-stream.

    I say this: Let us never, ever allow the achievements of the Thatcher years to be thrown away. To be salami sliced – Labour slice, by Labour slice – until there is nothing left.

    The corner-stone of our prosperity, and the key aim of our years in power, has to be the rebuilding of an enterprise culture in Britain.

    We have to fight and win a new battle of ideas in favour of better but smaller government in the 21st century. That is the best way of making Britain prosperous and free.

    When we left power, we had almost succeeded in getting public expenditure down to 40 per cent of our economy. I cut the share of national income spent by government by 2.5 per cent. It may not sound a lot, but it’s a huge amount of money.

    This 40 per cent target – the key to stopping the remorseless growth of government in the modern world – should once again be our goal. If the Government takes 40 per cent, the rest is available for our entrepreneurs to create wealth and jobs.

    Since we left power, taxes in Britain have risen and become far too complicated. Of course a Conservative government will aim to reduce and simplify our taxes.

    But this will not be easy. When it comes to tax, like many things, it is better to under-promise and over-perform. But the direction we want to move in should be clear – and we should stick to it.

    I am the only person in today’s House of Commons ever to have made real reductions in income tax: I cut 2p off the basic rate.

    When Gordon Brown shaved a penny off, he quickly slapped it back on National Insurance. His reduction was cosmetic; my cuts were for real. That’s the difference between Conservative and Labour.

    Anyone in this hall who does not believe in a low-tax economy has come to the wrong party conference. In government, there will be work to be done to achieve that.

    Low taxation will be the prize but only if we first reduce debt and control spending. We demonstrate all over again that it is possible to have modern public services and still keep growth of public spending below the growth of the real economy. That is the art of good government in the modern world. It is the art all good Conservatives have mastered.

    The economic management of the fourth largest economy in the world is an enormous responsibility which the Conservative Party wants to take up again.

    When we take over, we will find that the books have been cooked by New Labour.

    We will have to produce the first honest public accounts that Britain has had for many years before we discover the true extent of the problems we face.

    We must prove that we have the competence and the courage to deliver economic success. Labour has always left economic failure behind them. They are going to do it again. It will fall to us to once again to pick up the pieces and enable Britain to remain a strong economic power in the modern world.

    This is the third party conference in three weeks with a leadership contest.

    Charles Kennedy just hung on – that is good news.

    Labour’s two big beasts yet again locked horns over when one should hand over the baton to the other. I would not put those two in a relay team!

    We Conservatives now have to choose an even bigger beast than either of them – to push Labour out of office at the next general election and return us to government.

    I do not just want us to win the next general election so we can set Britain on the right economic road again. I want us to win because of the damage that I believe Tony Blair and New Labour are doing to the way we are governed.

    I believe that New Labour has undermined the health of our democracy.

    They have abandoned the proper processes of Cabinet government.

    They have turned the great Secretaries of State into the lackeys of Downing Street.

    They have doubled the number of political advisers.

    They have changed the rules so that those advisers can now invent policies and bully civil servants about.

    They have treated Parliament with a mixture of indifference and contempt.

    They have sidelined local government and created a proliferation of quangos.

    Their obsession with press headlines and media moments has taken over our political system.

    Much of our problem as a party is that people do not trust us. It is not that they do not trust us because we are Conservatives. They do not trust us because we are politicians.

    We must show that we are different politicians who believe in Cabinet Government, accountability to Parliament, an independent civil service and who aspire to be the servants of the people and not their masters nor their deceivers.

    Mr Brown is now putting it about that things will be different if he makes it to No. 10.

    Fat chance! A Brown government will be control-freakery elevated into a principle of Government. There is no Minister more obsessed with personal control of every corner of government than Mr Brown. There is no Minister who has been more dismissive of his colleagues and his officials. There is no Minister who worries more about what the headline will be in tomorrow’s papers.

    I would not dare say that Gordon Brown is “psychologically flawed”. I leave that sort of thing to No. 10. I do say that Mr Brown is a team player – who believes in a team of one.

    He will seek to run every part of government with the same compulsion to intervene he has shown as Chancellor. And when it all goes wrong, he will simply try to blame someone else.

    With Mr Blair we have had a president; with Mr Brown we are going to have an emperor. We must make sure that this would-be Napoleon meets his Waterloo.

    As Conservatives, we have a strong set of values in which we deeply believe: strong defence, low taxation, smarter and honest government, market economics, law and order, the family.

    Our philosophy is rooted in the tolerant instincts of the British people. It places its faith in the individualism and civic energy of our citizens.

    These are my values and always have been and they are our values as a party. I believe they are values shared by a clear majority of our fellow citizens.

    Tony Blair has tried to steal some of our principles and our policies – against the instincts of his own party. He has been a huge political cuckoo sitting right in the middle of our nest.

    Gordon Brown told the Labour Conference that they were going to dominate the centre ground. Oh no, they are not! The time has come to take back the political ground that should be ours. It’s time to start winning again.

    David Willetts keeps telling us that we will all need to work harder and retire later. I am determined to do my bit.

    I have put in a job application for a new, rather demanding job this December.

    That job will be to lead this party back to power and to lead this country into a better, more confident future.

    I may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I promise you this. If you give me the chance to lead this party, I will lead it unspun. I will say what I think, and try to do what I say, as I have always done in politics.

    The question we have to answer is: do we really want to win?

    When I ask myself why do I fight to get re-elected to Parliament again, why do I hurl myself upon the spears of yet another leadership election, why do I tangle daily with the media and still feel the same tingle of excitement that I did when I first started my political career? It is because I want Conservative values to win again and, with you, to return to our task of making this country an even better place to live in.

    Fellow Conservatives, let us win together.