Tories try to reinvigorate their party with money for 'diverse' candidates

The Tory conference hall is, so far, struggling to replicate the size and excitement of Labour’s gathering last week. This isn’t entirely the party’s fault: the venue itself might be great for listening to an orchestra, but it tends to dampen what atmosphere there is. But the decline in audience enthusiasm has been taking place over a number of years across a number of venues.

The reasons for this are manifold. One is that the Tories simply do not have the grassroots membership that Labour does. Another is the way Conservatives struggle to give rousing speeches about what drives them in the way that Labourites do. Ask a Labour MP or member why they went into politics, and they’ll readily start talking about growing up under Margaret Thatcher, or the leaking roof of their school, or the poverty in their local community. All of these things may well be Tory experiences, too, but there’s a reticence in the Conservative psyche that prevents the same passion.