𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Imagining that I was in charge for a day isn’t something I do often.

Okay, maybe that’s a bit of a fib. Just the other day, I found myself thinking about what I’d do if I created a political party from scratch. You know, the typical kind of daydream – at least for Tory councillors!

The chain of thought was sparked after former mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street and former leader of the Scottish Conservative Party Ruth Davidson teamed up to create a new political movement called Prosper to woo the “politically homeless” of the centre and centre-Right. It’s for voters who feel unrepresented, unenthused and uninspired by anything currently on the table.

I’ll be honest: even as a staunch Conservative, I can understand that feeling.

There are days when I just wish we could wipe the slate clean and start all over again. And, bear with me, that’s how my hypothetical fledgling party took hold: working title, Stuff That Works. Yes, the branding needs a bit of tinkering…but the ethos is easy. If it works, we’ll do it.

As a councillor of seven years, I have seen first-hand how grubby party politics can get in the way of things that actually deliver. In my own town, I’ve watched projects die not because they were flawed, but because they came from the wrong administration. Progress scrapped not due to lack of merit, but down to dogged ideology.

And we see it nationally, too. Just last week, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was hit with a potential £100million blow as Rwanda signalled it may sue after he scrapped the asylum seeker deportation scheme with a flick of his wrist as soon as he was handed the keys to No 10, only to later plead with other countries to do more or less the same thing.

This is where all parties are going wrong. Yes, I’m a Conservative. But in reality, like most Brits, I just want a country that works, not one dictated by dogma.

For all I think that Reform UK is awash with problems, one thing Nigel Farage has got right is that he wants to attract people from outside of politics to help run the country. Cabinet members with real-life business and leadership credentials, not just those who have spent their lives delivering leaflets to cling to power.

Indeed, he could take this ethos further and say that they don’t actually care what someone’s politics is. As long as there’s evidence of success behind their ideas, they’ll give them a whirl. At the moment, no one really knows what they’re getting when they put a cross in the Reform UK box.

Anyway, forget handing Nigel my homework. I think this is a principle all parties should adopt.

Yes, I’m a Conservative who believes in fairness, personal responsibility and striving for better. But it’s all meaningless unless we have a country that actually works.