What is next for the Conservatives?

By

Billy Merrin, Editor-in-Chief

The last few years have been tough for the Tories. Constant drops in the polls and catastrophic election defeats that don't seem like a one-off, with them losing 647 councillors at the local elections last Thursday. So, where does the party go from here? How does it win back so many lifelong Conservative voters that they have seemingly lost to Reform UK?

Well, some Tories suggest changes in leadership due to the lack of revival, combined with the disappointing local elections. However, would this really push a position reaction in the poles? Rumours of Boris Johnson's return due to his charisma with voters, but would this increase Tory fortunes and have the electorate forgiven him for the partygate scandal during COVID? Well, one poll suggests Johnson is the only leader who can overtake Reform's current popularity. 

One way of looking at this as this is the current Reform popularity that could change either way, now they have greater responsibility controlling ten councils. If they fail to please voters and create the change they have been desperately craving, then voters (who likely switched from Conservative to Reform) may swing back to voting with the party that they know. But if Reform succeeds in the councils they now run, they could claim they have completed one of their missions, which is to destroy the Conservative Party.

However, this is unlikely to happen; there is a reason the party is the oldest of the five biggest parties in Britain. It's due to its adaptability in the period, to learn from mistakes in governance and mistakes with voters' main priorities. It's not to say Britain has never had far-right leaning parties that aimed to threaten the Conservative Party's existence. In modern times, UKIP in the 2013 local elections polled at 23%, similar to the Reform Party's polling figures now. However, the Conservatives survived this and went on to win three more general elections. 

So, what should the Tories do? Well, a change in leadership may be a stretch due as Reform's current surge could likely drop; it is much safer to deliver for the people they already represent in central and local government. Also, not to mention as still the official opposition to Labour in parliament, holding them to account, with bold motions that captivate the voters they hope to win back, will do great for the Conservatives over the coming years with it's strategy to win back power.

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