Reporter Mark Andrews chats to visitors to the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham.
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00:00I'm joined by Councillor Simon Bennett, the leader of the Conservative group on Wolverhampton
00:06Council.
00:07So Simon, how have you been finding the conference so far?
00:10Yeah, it's absolutely great.
00:11I mean, it's obviously in our home region, the West Midlands, so absolutely love coming
00:16to Birmingham, the ICC and Symphony Hall, it's a great set-up here and the atmosphere
00:21is actually really, really good at the moment, so yeah, we're looking forward to what we've
00:24got over the next few days too.
00:25Because I was going to say, is the mood a little bit dejected following the election
00:29today?
00:30I can imagine why that might be a perception, but I mean, you'll get the feeling when you
00:36hear Mark that actually, with the leadership election that's currently going on, there's
00:40newfound enthusiasm, energy amongst members here and I believe the numbers are up slightly
00:47this year on previous years as well, so I think for the members, they want to see their
00:51party return to government as soon as possible, so bringing everyone together like this is
00:57absolutely the right way for us to get back into winning ways.
01:02Now I saw you, the slogan, the view and the build, now it's probably not the most punchy,
01:07most upbeat sounding slogan, does it perhaps reflect the new reality for the party?
01:13I think the reality is we haven't really got a leader of the party at the moment, Rishi
01:19has said he's stepping down, we've got a leadership race going on, he's not actually at conference
01:25any more Rishi, he's now left, so we can't brand ourselves, we haven't got that vision
01:32yet because we need to get that new leader in and I'm supporting Robert Jenrick to be
01:36that leader as well, so making sure that gets into place and obviously then we'll look at
01:42how we deliver a move forward and what our vision is, hopefully under Robert's leadership.
01:49What's it feel like being in opposition now?
01:53I mean it's new for me because I've never experienced being, you know I'm young enough
01:58not to have experienced necessarily a Labour government, but I think it was about time,
02:04we were stale, we'd lost our focus, we'd lost our direction, so I think this is a good opportunity
02:09now to take stock, look at getting a new leader in that's going to take us forward and get
02:16us back into government in the next five years, the next general election, because absolutely
02:20I think we can do that, we've just got to offer people the right policies and that's
02:24not just Conservative voters, but voters who might not necessarily consider themselves
02:29Conservative but actually the policies that matter to them as working people.
02:34Is it going to be hard to get your message to potential voters, are people listening
02:39now to what the Conservatives have got to say?
02:41I think we're at a point where actually our relevance, we need to ensure that we do have
02:47the right policies and we are representing the British people to the best of our ability
02:53to ensure that we are relevant. Obviously we've seen the coming up to the first hundred
02:58days of the new Labour government and they've not covered themselves in any glory, so it's
03:02now on us to make sure that we are the party that is ready to step back in and pick up
03:09the pieces from what will be a disastrous incoming Labour government.
03:13I'm joined now by Jade Stephenson, the former MP for Wolverhampton North East, so it's the
03:24first conference now in opposition, how does it feel, what's it like?
03:28It's a really quite positive mood, I think there's some really interesting conversations
03:32about the leadership of the candidates and people are analysing where we went wrong and
03:39what we are rebuilding, so it's pretty positive, I think lots of people are saying it feels
03:44better than the Labour one, because I think there's a bit of thought about what Labour
03:51are doing and winter fuel and all these decisions have come quite quickly, so it's a good mood.
03:58And how has your life changed since not being an MP anymore?
04:01I've had a day off, I didn't have a day off the whole time I was in Parliament, so that
04:08was kind of refreshing, but it's very different, people are still writing to me, so I'm helping
04:17Rob Jenrick with his campaign and other Wolverhampton lads, so I'm still busy.
04:23And what are you doing, are you planning to make a comeback as an MP, is that something
04:27you're planning to do?
04:28Possibly, at the moment I think I'd quite like to go back, I sort of just got the hang
04:34of it when I didn't go back at this time, but there are challenges, I like solving problems.
04:42And you say the mood's positive, I've seen the slogan, it's the view and the build, could
04:48that possibly be seen as being slightly introspective and that's not the most positive of messages?
04:54I think after the election we have to look at what happened, I mean the Labour victory
05:00was essentially caused by reform splitting the right-leaning vote, in my scene, Labour
05:06stayed virtually static on 2019, so I think there are big questions to address, and I
05:15think we do have to rebuild the party, we have to rebuild the right of centre, sort
05:20of political language and what we want to do and sell it to the country, so I think
05:25this is a time to have those detailed conversations and directional decisions made.
05:32The next election, it seems a very long way away, but is it something, I mean, can the
05:37Conservatives win the next election?
05:38I think they can, I actually think they can, but it will depend on reform, so reform aren't
05:44going away, they've got a few MPs in the chamber now talking about immigration was
05:50the number one issue that came up on doorstep, and while I was one of the people doing the
05:54most work on immigration and trying to push the party a little bit to act more firmly
06:00on all migration, that split with reform cost my seat, so to me, if the right can unite
06:10around a common sort of goal, because I think people, there's no enthusiasm for Labour,
06:15and I think the winter fuel thing has really shocked some really committed Labour supporters
06:20are now thinking, if my dad was a Labour voter, if we're not there for the most vulnerable
06:25people in society, why are we the Labour party, and 80% of pensioners in poverty are losing
06:32their winter fuel, this is not rich old people, this is pensioners who are living below the
06:37poverty line, so I was really shocked when Rachel Reeves announced it, I think it's
06:43a really bad point.
06:45Because the other way of looking at it, it could be that if the Conservatives are going
06:48Boris Johnson got his 80 seat majority, should he not have perhaps been doing more of the
06:51negative, the difficult things at that time?
06:55I think the pandemic threw everything that Boris Johnson, I went in under Boris, levelling
07:03up was huge, I'm a Wolfroonian, very proud of it, the money that came into Wolverhampton
07:09in the last parliament was quite profound, it's not been built yet, we've not seen the
07:13results of things like the city learning quarter, that's nearly £50 million of Conservative
07:18funding making it happen, I won funding for the green innovation corridor and an investment
07:24zone, which Rachel Reeves may cancel now, so I think if that levelling up commitment
07:30to Wolverhampton stops, now it's red all the way through, but the pandemic completely changed
07:37our whole life for two years, and it sent us into an economic black hole, essentially,
07:44not the black hole Labour are trying to invent this time, but we paid people to stay at home,
07:49the furlough scheme to protect jobs, all of that money, we knew money is finite and resources
07:56are finite, so what Boris had wanted to do, the pandemic was such a challenge, and then
08:02the climate crisis, the oil drain, energy crisis, all of this, so I think the levelling
08:08up commitment, I'm still very passionate about that, I'm still passionate about sorting illegal
08:13migration, bringing down levels of immigration generally, and getting unemployment in Wolverhampton
08:19down, because that's the most critical thing for me, until we get our unemployment rates
08:24in the city down, Wolverhampton is not going to recover, get that climate investment, get
08:29more prosperous, people have better opportunities, so I think Boris was absolutely right, what
08:34he wanted to do, but the pandemic, any government going through a pandemic would have struggled.
08:40And what are the highlights you've seen so far today then, the things you've seen?
08:44Oh my goodness, I went to Rob's launch thing this morning, Rob had a rally that was really
08:51well attended, we had some big hitters in there, Lord Frost, Bill Cash, Marco Longhi,
08:58lots of people getting behind Rob Jenrick, so I think for the West Midlands and for the
09:02black country, I think Rob is saying things that certainly people I spoke to at the doorstep,
09:07I think it would bring back a lot of reformed votes if Rob gets the leadership.
09:12I'm joined now by Mike Newton, you were the unsuccessful parliamentary candidate for
09:18Wolverhampton West, when the result came through, did you know you were going to lose that seat
09:26to be honest?
09:27Look, I think that it had been evident for a while that it was going to be a tremendous
09:31reach to win the seat, I remember when you wrote your commentary in the Express and Star
09:36that if I was lucky enough to win the seat, Mr Sunak would probably be going back into
09:42Downing Street with a significant majority, and I think it would have been an earthquake
09:47had I won, but nonetheless we fought very hard and I think we had a relatively really
09:51good result throughout the Midlands, and I'm very grateful to yourself for your very fair
09:58coverage during the election, I'm grateful to the people in the party that helped me
10:02in Wolverhampton, and also to Warinda Just, who I think is a terrific guy, and I was beaten
10:06fair and square by a good man.
10:08And how does he feel now being at the conference today, what's the mood like?
10:12Good, I mean look I think that naturally there was going to be some reflection after the
10:17scale of the defeat that we had, but I think it's been reflection in a good way, I don't
10:23think there's been excessive recrimination behind the scenes here, I think people generally
10:29have not deluded themselves about the things that we need to fix, we need a better offer
10:34to working families, we need to be better on migration, we need to be seen as broadly
10:40more supportive of business and more competent across the board, and I think we discussed
10:44those things in a relatively mature and humble manner.
10:51And do you think the Conservatives can, I know the next election seems a long way away,
10:55but thinking about it, some people are saying it's inevitable when they're going to have
10:59two terms in the Labour government, do you think the Conservatives can win, and will
11:02they win?
11:03Yeah, I mean look I think the council elections that are coming up next year are going to
11:07be very important for us, we need to make sure that we're prepared to campaign hard
11:11as from when candidates are selected, and work very positively on that. I think these
11:17days cycles are much shorter in everything than they used to be Mark, and you and I as
11:22football fans, me supporting Stoke and you supporting a team down the road, then we're
11:28very aware that cycles are much more truncated than they used to be. So maybe 25 years ago
11:39the size of a majority like he has got would perhaps preclude someone else getting back
11:45into power in five years time, but you know in this new world where opinions change very
11:51rapidly, everything's out there because of digital, then it may well be the case that
11:55we have a much better chance if we can get our act together, deliver a positive vision
12:00in five years time, you know?
12:02And what will the Conservatives need to do to win in the hope of winning?
12:05I think if I'm to be specific to Wolverhampton, then I started to very much feel that the
12:11tide was against us when I was campaigning up in Teton Hall Regis on some of the, you
12:16know, the really, I think, indicative middle income estates and roads, places like Burland
12:24Avenue, Linton Avenue, etc, etc, you know, where we really would need to have started
12:30to get the numbers up to get over the line in Wolverhampton West and it was clear that
12:35Labour had done a lot of preparatory work over a long period of time in terms of direct
12:39mail and direct digital marketing on the voters there that we needed to persuade.
12:44So I think we've got to make a better offer to middle class working people, you know,
12:49we have to earn their trust back on a number of levels, be it economic, be it prime, be
12:54it immigration, you know, those are the things that we're going to need to address.
12:58I think, you know, we've gone down the route of being pretty brutally honest with ourselves
13:01here, so I'm relatively optimistic.
13:03And just looking around the events here today, what caught your eye today, what have you
13:07been to?
13:08You know, believe it or not, I've just come out of a session with the Welsh Tories and
13:13Robert Jenrick, who I'm supporting for leader, did come in and speak to that.
13:17It's very interesting, though, listening to Welsh Conservatives talk very frankly about
13:22the issues they've had, parliamentary elections in Wales and what they're planning to do with
13:27the Senate elections when they come up.
13:29So that was very interesting.
13:31I went to Robert's rally earlier this morning and had a long talk with, you know, many people
13:37from the Midlands area there.
13:39So that's what I've been doing today.
13:41But as someone who's basically teetotal and drinks very, very little, conference is perhaps
13:45not the exciting event for me that it is for a lot of folks, you know.
13:49Hello, sir.
13:50We're from the Express and Star newspaper.
13:52What's your name, please, sir?
13:54My name's Sam Firth and I'm from Leeds.
13:56Yeah.
13:57Party member and was a candidate in the general election.
13:59So how have you been finding the conference here today, then?
14:02Well, I think the conference is beat in the sense that we know we've suffered the biggest
14:07defeat in our history as a party, but we've not just been taken out on the chin.
14:11We're going, right, how the heck in five years' time can we be back on the pitch to make sure
14:16that we can give the game to Keir Starmer and hopefully win back power and take forward
14:21the country in a direction we'd prefer to go?
14:23What's the mood here like in Birmingham?
14:25I think a lot of people are very reflective.
14:27They understand they've got a serious decision to make with so many candidates that are swirling
14:32around wanting to be able to carry for people's votes.
14:35We want to make sure that we can understand exactly what they stand for and how they want
14:39to take forward the party and ultimately, as I said before, how they can get us back
14:43on the pitch, playing the game, ready to fight the next general election with a serious,
14:48credible case for why the British public should put us back into number 10.
14:53What would you say the likelihood is, if you're putting money on it, of the Conservatives
14:56winning the next election?
14:57I think we had enough bets placed in the general election to talk about that.
15:00But serious, I mean, is it a realistic hope?
15:03Do you have serious hopes? Do you think it's realistic?
15:06I think the nature of where we are is the fact that many seats across the country, yes
15:10there was a lot of Conservative seats that fell to Labour, Lib Dem, to the Reform Party,
15:15but the nature of it is a lot of those majorities are quite shallow.
15:17We'll wait and see. The nature of it is we need to make sure that we're ship-shaped
15:21and ready to go, never mind being able to say whether we can win that election.
15:25We need to make sure that we are confident in what we believe and we are united in doing that.
15:30And a lot of people here have still not made their minds up because they want to hear from
15:34the candidates exactly what they're putting forward to make sure that we're in that position.
15:38And have you made your mind up yet how you'll be voting?
15:40I haven't made my mind up, no, and that's why I'm still here at party conference.
15:43What have you heard? Have you heard any of the speeches so far?
15:46I've heard a number of them and I think the main thing is that, well actually,
15:50we've only day two and the candidates have been at so many events,
15:54but hopefully there's going to be a few more opportunities to hear from them yet.
15:58There's some really interesting ideas coming out there.
16:00I think there is a good point about whether we put out policy proposals yet.
16:04The main thing about it is what is the strategy to bring the Conservative family back together?
16:10We've had 14 years of power, we've been kicked out royally
16:13and we need to make sure that we are ready to get back on the pitch as I say.
16:20How have you been finding the conference? What's the mood like?
16:22I've had a fantastic time. I think it's been a great idea having all four candidates here.
16:26It's given us something to look forward to. It's about the future,
16:30it's not looking back at recent times.
16:34I've spent a lot of time obviously in the store cupboard with my enormous five t-shirts.
16:39I was going to say, how much do these t-shirts cost?
16:42I have a fantastic British supplier who has done them for me at a very reasonable rate.
16:48Which is? How much are you charging for each of them? Are they free?
16:52Oh no, they're free.
16:54They're free? OK.
16:56There's no charge to anybody here at the conference.
16:58And have they proved popular?
17:00They have proved extremely popular, yes.
17:02We've been getting boxes and boxes every day.
17:05It seems like you're following on from the election defeat.
17:10Is this a period of introspection at the moment?
17:14I think it has been, but I think we've got a Labour party in
17:19who, having watched the news recently, I think the really important thing is
17:23that we provide an effective opposition as fast as possible.
17:27So we've been spending the time looking at what went wrong,
17:31and I think the most important thing is to elect a new leader
17:33and to get out there and start fighting against what's happening.
17:37Stand up for pensioners, stand up for all the people we need to.
17:42And what sort of likelihood do you feel is of winning the next election?
17:47It seems a long way off now.
17:49Oh, it's a long time.
17:51I think the last election, the Labour win, was a mile wide and an inch deep.
17:58So I think there's everything to play for at the next election.
18:01It's Mark Andrews. I'm just about to leave the Conservative party conference for the day.
18:06We've met a number of local party members
18:10who, despite the historic general election defeat just two months ago,
18:16insist that the party can recover, that it can win the next general election.
18:22We've visited the different stalls for the leadership contenders.
18:27We've seen some very interesting and varied merchandise they are offering
18:32from Robert Jenrick, I Back Bobby J Hat,
18:37through Tom Tuganod, Phone Fingers, Kenny Badenoch's Giving Away Apples,
18:42and James Cleverley's got his own tombola.
18:45But whoever wins this election, we'll find out late in the year.