Will Tanner: Tories need to focus on delivery, not policy

Director Will Tanner wrote for The Times Red Box on the need of the future Conservative Cabinet to focus on delivery, not press releases. He writes:

“It is not too late to make progress against these promises. The next leader will have two years to deliver on them and in doing so to make clear that the Conservative Party’s word remains as good as its bond. But the fact such totemic policies have been allowed to slip is a cautionary tale for the two contenders now vying for the top job. As they set out their own stalls, they would do well to focus less on press releases announcing policies, and more plans to deliver them.

“That means different things for different candidates. For Liz Truss being clear with voters when her tax cuts will come into effect, how they will be funded, and what she expects to happen to inflation and interest rates as a result. For Rishi Sunak it means being more explicit about how a new “NHS backlogs taskforce” will actually work, for example, or what it means to achieve energy sovereignty by 2045. This contest is an opportunity to move on from the politics of overpromises and underdelivery, and to restore trust in one of the Conservative Party’s great historic strengths: its reputation for getting the job done.”

Read the full piece here.