Rebalancing Tories
If George Osborne wants to be a successful chancellor, he will need to rein in his well-honed instincts on positioning and headline-grabbing in favour of greater focus on policy
The Conservative party
Resources
As a UK general election looms, the Conservative party is preparing for power.
Tory plan to elect police officials criticised
Conservative plans to bring in locally elected police commissioners could spark resignations by chief constables round the country, according to the man in charge of the lobbying group representing senior officers
CBI backs Tory deficit strategy
The UK employers’ group has supported Conservative plans to cut the budget deficit swiftly and sharply, rejecting Gordon Brown’s eight-year timetable to reduce the national debt
Tories threaten to cull college quangos
Conservatives say they plan to reduce the number of government agencies for further education, adding to calls from Westminster for a ‘bonfire of the quangos’
Tories target lack of reform on expenses
David Cameron put the lack of proposed legislation to clean up MPs’ expenses at the heart of the Tory attack on the Queen’s Speech, as he renewed his call for an immediate general election
Cameron to decide fate of Queen’s Speech bills
David Cameron will have a pivotal role in deciding the fate of many of the bills in the Queen’s Speech, government insiders have conceded
Tory deselection campaign dropped
Row over alleged affair has highlighted tensions between Mr Cameron and the rank-and-file
Tories urge dropping of Blair for Europe post
William Hague, shadow foreign secretary, says the prime minister should favour a drive to secure a top economic job in the European Commission, but not look for a “limelight-hungry” heavy-hitter such as Tony Blair
Tories eye business festival for axe
The Conservatives are considering abolishing Enterprise Week, a festival that promotes entrepreneurship to young people, that started in the UK in 2004 and which has spread to 87 countries
Related content and features
Video
More video
Business will warm to Tories
Brian Groom assesses the reaction of industry and small business to the party conference
The Tories and the north
Jim Pickard travels to Bury near Manchester to see how much of a chance the Tories have there
A lightweight shadow cabinet?
Francis Maude defends the calibre of the Tory frontbench
Most plausible Osborne so far
Philip Stephens analyses George Osborne’s Tory conference speech
‘Referendum on something’
Gideon Rachman says David Cameron has shut down Tory splits over Europe
Comment & Analysis
‘A steep climb ahead’
Politics: By specifying some of the painful measures they see as needed, David Cameron’s Conservatives have sought to prove themselves ready to govern – but their frankness remains a gamble
Vision of a green and pleasant land
A smaller state, a paternalistic society with an emphasis on family life, school discipline and bobbies on the beat: David Cameron offered a vision of a Conservative Britain that harked back to the pre-Thatcherite Tories but with a greener tinge
Cameron speech does the job
The public does not know which of the competing aims matter most to the Tories so the party needs to set out which of their objectives are the most important to them
Notebook: By George, Osborne will make us hate him
The shadow chancellor has predicted he will become the most unpopular man in Britain. Robert Shrimsley has some pointers to help him achieve his ambition
Industrialists uninspired by party of business
‘Mandelson for Tory prime minister,’ proposed the chair of a fast food chain. It was unclear whether he was joking, writes Jonathan Guthrie
Fiscal skirmishing
Mr Osborne has calculated, rightly in our view, that the British electorate is ready to accept pain in the quest for fiscal responsibility
Tories set out stall
The Conservative party’s Manchester conference is intended to focus on what a Tory government will do. However, plans are one thing, but how to pay for them is quite another
More stories
