Boris Johnson and the Tory identity crisis

The Tory conference in Manchester will be a relatively muted affair. In part, this is because — as I say in the Times today — of the fuel crisis. Ministers are acutely aware that even if petrol queues ease this weekend, the autumn will be full of such difficulties. What is known in government as the EFFing crisis — energy, fuel and food — will be a theme of the next few months. Even cabinet optimists think the shortage of lorry drivers will produce flare-ups over the coming months as supply chains come under pressure.

But conference will also be more restrained because the Tories are wondering what they are for. At the last election, the answer was clear: getting Brexit done and stopping Jeremy Corbyn. This gave them a sense of purpose. As normal politics begins to resume post-pandemic, many are not so sure what the party’s new mission is.