David Gauke: The Conservatives can afford to live longer if they ‘Prosper’
This affects the entire country.
David Gauke is a former Conservative Justice Secretary and was an independent candidate in South-West Hertfordshire at the 2019 general election. He is a vice-chair of Prosper UK.
Prosper UK launched today. Chaired by Andy Street and Ruth Davidson, in essence it makes three arguments.
The first is that a strong economy should be the nation’s priority. It is only through a strong economy that we can improve living standards, increase the opportunities for future generations, fund our public services, and enable us to adequately defend ourselves.
Second, the centre-right is best placed to deliver that strong economy. We need a thriving private sector; hard work and innovation should be rewarded; our tax and regulatory environment should make us internationally competitive; we should pursue free trade not protectionism; our public finances should be sustainable; markets matter; strong, independent institutions provide the stability and certainty that businesses need to invest; and Governments have to think about the long term. These are all attributes of the centre right at its best.
Third, the centre right, focused on the economy, is the political space the Conservatives should occupy. If it does, the party will prosper electorally.
I have written enough columns for ConservativeHome to know that this latter claim will be challenged.
It will be argued that the centre ground no longer exists. The country can be divided into a left block (who will never voter Conservative) and a right block and, therefore, what is needed are policies aimed solely on that right block, designed to squeeze out Reform.
But that is not what the polling, commissioned by Prosper UK and undertaken by More in Common, found. They asked people to place themselves on the political spectrum. The polling reveals that 22 million consider themselves to be in the centre or the centre right. Nearly a third of those people – 7 million – consider that no political party adequately represents their views. To put that in context, at the last General Election, the Conservatives received fewer than 7 million votes.
Some will argue that the future of right-of-centre politics should be about defending our national identity and that the biggest single issue facing the country is immigration.
No one is arguing that it is a matter that should be ignored. Immigration has to be controlled and the levels reached under Boris Johnson’s premiership were unsustainable. But it is also true that some of the language about immigration and immigrants used by some right-wing politicians is deeply divisive. It might be popular with some voters, but it puts off others. As net migration falls, and the repercussions will be complex and not entirely positive, this would be the wrong issue upon …
This affects the entire country.
David Gauke is a former Conservative Justice Secretary and was an independent candidate in South-West Hertfordshire at the 2019 general election. He is a vice-chair of Prosper UK.
Prosper UK launched today. Chaired by Andy Street and Ruth Davidson, in essence it makes three arguments.
The first is that a strong economy should be the nation’s priority. It is only through a strong economy that we can improve living standards, increase the opportunities for future generations, fund our public services, and enable us to adequately defend ourselves.
Second, the centre-right is best placed to deliver that strong economy. We need a thriving private sector; hard work and innovation should be rewarded; our tax and regulatory environment should make us internationally competitive; we should pursue free trade not protectionism; our public finances should be sustainable; markets matter; strong, independent institutions provide the stability and certainty that businesses need to invest; and Governments have to think about the long term. These are all attributes of the centre right at its best.
Third, the centre right, focused on the economy, is the political space the Conservatives should occupy. If it does, the party will prosper electorally.
I have written enough columns for ConservativeHome to know that this latter claim will be challenged.
It will be argued that the centre ground no longer exists. The country can be divided into a left block (who will never voter Conservative) and a right block and, therefore, what is needed are policies aimed solely on that right block, designed to squeeze out Reform.
But that is not what the polling, commissioned by Prosper UK and undertaken by More in Common, found. They asked people to place themselves on the political spectrum. The polling reveals that 22 million consider themselves to be in the centre or the centre right. Nearly a third of those people – 7 million – consider that no political party adequately represents their views. To put that in context, at the last General Election, the Conservatives received fewer than 7 million votes.
Some will argue that the future of right-of-centre politics should be about defending our national identity and that the biggest single issue facing the country is immigration.
No one is arguing that it is a matter that should be ignored. Immigration has to be controlled and the levels reached under Boris Johnson’s premiership were unsustainable. But it is also true that some of the language about immigration and immigrants used by some right-wing politicians is deeply divisive. It might be popular with some voters, but it puts off others. As net migration falls, and the repercussions will be complex and not entirely positive, this would be the wrong issue upon …
David Gauke: The Conservatives can afford to live longer if they ‘Prosper’
This affects the entire country.
David Gauke is a former Conservative Justice Secretary and was an independent candidate in South-West Hertfordshire at the 2019 general election. He is a vice-chair of Prosper UK.
Prosper UK launched today. Chaired by Andy Street and Ruth Davidson, in essence it makes three arguments.
The first is that a strong economy should be the nation’s priority. It is only through a strong economy that we can improve living standards, increase the opportunities for future generations, fund our public services, and enable us to adequately defend ourselves.
Second, the centre-right is best placed to deliver that strong economy. We need a thriving private sector; hard work and innovation should be rewarded; our tax and regulatory environment should make us internationally competitive; we should pursue free trade not protectionism; our public finances should be sustainable; markets matter; strong, independent institutions provide the stability and certainty that businesses need to invest; and Governments have to think about the long term. These are all attributes of the centre right at its best.
Third, the centre right, focused on the economy, is the political space the Conservatives should occupy. If it does, the party will prosper electorally.
I have written enough columns for ConservativeHome to know that this latter claim will be challenged.
It will be argued that the centre ground no longer exists. The country can be divided into a left block (who will never voter Conservative) and a right block and, therefore, what is needed are policies aimed solely on that right block, designed to squeeze out Reform.
But that is not what the polling, commissioned by Prosper UK and undertaken by More in Common, found. They asked people to place themselves on the political spectrum. The polling reveals that 22 million consider themselves to be in the centre or the centre right. Nearly a third of those people – 7 million – consider that no political party adequately represents their views. To put that in context, at the last General Election, the Conservatives received fewer than 7 million votes.
Some will argue that the future of right-of-centre politics should be about defending our national identity and that the biggest single issue facing the country is immigration.
No one is arguing that it is a matter that should be ignored. Immigration has to be controlled and the levels reached under Boris Johnson’s premiership were unsustainable. But it is also true that some of the language about immigration and immigrants used by some right-wing politicians is deeply divisive. It might be popular with some voters, but it puts off others. As net migration falls, and the repercussions will be complex and not entirely positive, this would be the wrong issue upon …
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