Greg Clark’s softer approach to building more houses in a ‘Conservative way’

The most striking thing about Greg Clark’s speech to Tory conference today was how different his rhetoric was on house building to George Osborne. Osborne likes to talk of confrontation, of standing up to small ‘c’ conservative voters who block development, and of winning a battle with the shires (see today’s Mail front page). But Clark tried to use more conciliatory language, speaking wistfully of the ‘joy’ of his own homes:

‘ Close your eyes and picture all the homes you’ve lived in – then what you see is the story of your life. For me it began with my mum and dad’s bungalow where I grew up. Then the thrill of walking into the first room of my own at university – with the shabby furniture and the musty smell.  The fun – and the diplomatic challenges – of a succession of flatshares after university. The flat where Helen and I began our married life and into which I carried my first child hours after she was born and now our home in Kent, where the story begins again for my children.