May rises to task

NOT content with standing back and watching Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour tear itself apart from within, Theresa May is intent on going for the jugular.

Her keynote speech at the Conservative Party conference yesterday was an exquisitely timed land grab for the centre ground of British politics – and a convincing bid to show disillusioned Labour voters that the Tories stand for the values they hold dear.

The contrast with Mr Corbyn’s limp performance a week earlier could not have been more stark. Here was a credible, composed leader with a clear sense of a compelling vision for a better, fairer Britain and how she will set about achieving it.

Rather than pontificating over ideological debates, Mrs May homed in on the issues that really matter to voters, particularly those in the squeezed middle.

Most daring of all was her move to reposition the Conservatives as the party of the working classes with the pledge to “create an economy that works for everyone, in which everyone plays by the rules”.

Given the sense of alienation felt by swathes of voters in traditional Labour heartlands over central questions such as immigration and Brexit, 
this was an open goal that Mrs May was not going to miss.

In a comprehensive speech, covering a whole spectrum of policy, the Prime Minister also took pains to distance herself from her predecessor – who, along with George Osborne, was notable by his absence.

Where David Cameron’s government, rightly or wrongly, was perceived as one that represented the privileged minority, the recurring theme of Mrs May’s address was her determination to turn Britain into a true meritocracy. Her mantra of fairness and opportunity for all was a message with universal appeal.

The process by which Mrs May became Prime Minister was not of the country’s choosing.

However, this barnstorming performance suggests that Britain may just have emerged from the rubble of six months of astonishing political upheaval with the leader it so badly needs.