The path back for Conservative supporters is here

I'VE been writing this column since 2004 and I was invited to do so because I’m a Conservative and it balances the political opinions across the paper.

- Graham Robb

In the past year though, it has been very difficult to argue a Conservative case due to lack of policy. Worse than that, whatever Conservatives say that the Government should do, we are always confronted with an obvious political point, ‘why didn’t you do that when you were in office?’

This week, finally, I feel I can fulfil my obligations as a Conservative commentator. For the first time in over 18 months, I'm able to hold my head up and say the Conservatives appear to have some recent answers and new policies to deal with some of the country’s problems.

Kemi Badenoch gave a speech last week that ended the political conference season on a high for her party. It may not translate into an immediate bounce in the opinion polls, but it did demonstrate a path back for Conservative supporters.

Kemi didn’t just eviscerate the Government's record, she put forward alternative policies, too. It started with ending the ability of so many policies to be frustrated by the use of litigation and its political weapon - lawfare.

Well-meaning treaties and statutes, like the European Convention on Human Rights and now the Modern Slavery Act, are now being used in ways never intended when Parliament agreed to them. Kemi pointed out “what should be shields to protect the vulnerable, have instead become swords to attack democratic decisions and frustrate common sense.”