Rishi Sunak approached his first party conference speech behind in the polls and heading towards a general election campaign that many in his party are dreading. The prime minister’s mission was to begin turning things around and his strategy for the Conservative party was clear: become the enemy of what he called the ‘30-year status quo’ while not taking too much blame for it.
The political correspondent Kiran Stacey tells Nosheen Iqbal that Sunak announced some significant new policies: an abandonment of the northern leg of Britain’s high-speed rail expansion; a ban on those who are children today from ever being allowed to buy cigarettes; and a replacement for A-levels in England and Wales.
But does it all add up to a vision of change that can win an election?
Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images
