THERESA MAY CLOSED her first Conservative Party conference as leader this afternoon with a speech designed to lead Britain into a new era.
Taking the stage in Birmingham, the British Prime Minister spun a message of a positive Britain, confidently striding away from the EU and a warmer, more centrist Conservative Party.
The speech hit all the right notes for conference delegates: low taxes, independence from Brussels and support for the troops.
Here are five takeaways:
1. Running to the centre
With Labour hurting, May made a concerted effort to run to the centre today, aiming to hit Labour support with the working classes.
Indeed, the speech mentions the centre five times, with May openly stating her intention to turn the Tories into a uniting force in English politics.
I want to set our party and our country on the path towards the new centre ground of British politics…
We may build a new united Britain, rooted in the centre ground…
Time to reject the ideological templates provided by the socialist left and the libertarian right and to embrace a new centre ground in which government steps up – and not back – to act on behalf of us all.
Accusing Labour of abandoning the centre, May sounded less Margaret Thatcher and more Tony Blair.
2. Flipping the nasty party
May made headlines in 2002 when, as Conservative Party chair, she denounced her peers as the “nasty party”, uninterested in women and minorities.
That comment had hung over her upon taking up residence in 10 Downing Street, but today it was turned on her opposition.
“Only we can do it. Because the main lesson I take from their conference last week is that the Labour Party is not just divided, but divisive.
“Determined to pit one against another. To pursue vendettas and settle scores. And to embrace the politics of pointless protest that simply pulls people further apart.
That’s what Labour stands for today. Fighting among themselves. Abusing their own MPs. Threatening to end their careers. Tolerating anti-Semitism and supporting voices of hate.
“You know what some people call them?
The nasty party.
The knowing, rapturous applause will have rung loudest in the ears of Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters.
3. The party of…everyone
May positioned her party as the guardians of the following:
That is a very broad church to pitch yourself to, but May’s “New Tories” looks set to pitch its electoral sights further than its traditional base.
That could be bad news for Labour. With themselves and UKIP in disarray following leadership elections, this was an aggressive play by Conservatives to woo floating voters, undecideds and the base of each party.
4. The Ides of March
May once more pledged to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty no later than March, starting the process of leading the UK out of Europe.
Once a Remain campaigner herself, May’s vision of a Britain outside Europe was not one of doom, but of a strident, confident country.
A Great Repeal Bill to get rid of the European Communities Act – introduced in the next Parliamentary session. Our laws made not in Brussels but in Westminster. Our judges sitting not in Luxembourg but in courts across the land. The authority of EU law in this country ended forever.
Though she made the right noises about being part of Europe beyond Brexit, about a “Global Britain”, her words will have echoed in Brussels.
5. It’s been a long, long time comin’…
Eight times May went to the overriding message and catchphrase of her speech:
A change has got to come.
After thanking David Cameron for his work as PM, May certainly didn’t spare the British elite.
She said that the country had gone through a “quiet revolution” in June, but that Britain was not, in the words of the conference slogan, working for everyone.
Our democracy should work for everyone, but if you’ve been trying to say things need to change for years and your complaints fall on deaf ears, it doesn’t feel like it’s working for you.
“And the roots of the revolution run deep. Because it wasn’t the wealthy who made the biggest sacrifices after the financial crash, but ordinary, working class families.”
She spoke of reforming capitalism, of intervening in the energy market where most customers are on the highest tariffs and of bridging the inequality between London and the rest of the country.
Too many people in positions of power behave as though they have more in common with international elites than with the people down the road, the people they employ, the people they pass in the street.
As she left the stage to the strain of Brummie legends ELO’s Mr Blue Sky, May’s speech was uncharacteristically hopeful:
Come with me and we’ll write that brighter future. Come with me and we’ll make that change. Come with me as we rise to meet this moment. Come with me and together let’s seize the day.
Just 84 days after taking office, May’s speech put the Conservative Party firmly on election footing – with both feet headed for the centre.
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