Jenrick to channel Blair as he declares: ‘It’s time for New Tories’

Robert Jenrick will channel Sir Tony Blair in his conference speech by vowing to build a “new Conservative Party”, should he become Tory leader.

The phrase has been deliberately picked to echo the New Labour drive led by Sir Tony and Gordon Brown, which took the party out of the wilderness of opposition into power in 1997.

Mr Jenrick will also use his speech on Wednesday to name five policy changes he would focus on if he were to win.

These are to “reject mass migration”, focus on “cheap, reliable energy”, “get Britain building again”, a “small state that works” and a “more united country”.

The former housing and immigration minister comes into the final day of Tory conference as the leadership front-runner, with more votes from MPs than the other candidates.

He will give a no-notes speech, as Lord Cameron did to clinch the leadership in 2005, and has been rehearsing it as late as 2am in recent days, according to allies.

Mr Jenrick will say: “The truth is this. If we’re to tackle the immense challenges we face, if we’re to restore the public’s trust, we must build something new.

“A new Conservative Party. That is what I call for today. Nothing less than a new Conservative Party built on the rock of our oldest values and best traditions. If I become our leader, this is what – together – we will build.”

The nod to the New Labour project reflects a wider admiration among Tory MPs for the efficiency with which Sir Tony turned an election-losing party into one that held power for 13 years.

Tougher on immigration

Mr Jenrick’s front-runner status has been secured with a strategy that has seen him put the need to win back Reform voters with a tougher immigration position front and centre.

The Tory MP for Newark has pledged to pull the UK out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to help tackle illegal migration, and to have an annual cap on legal net migration of below 100,000.

Tory MPs are knocking the field down from four to two this month, but Mr Jenrick’s team are confident he has the numbers to make the cut-off. His campaign has won plaudits from Tory strategists watching from the sidelines for its early success.

But backers of some of his opponents – Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat – believe his ECHR position could divide Tory MPs for years to come, given opposition from moderates.

Mr Jenrick’s ECHR stance triggered a row at the conference when he said British special forces were “killing rather than capturing terrorists because our lawyers tell us that if they are caught the European court will set them free”.

Other rivals issued criticism. Mr Tugendhat, a former security minister, said the comments risked “making life much more dangerous for our soldiers”. Mr Cleverly said: “Our military do not murder people.”

Mr Jenrick refused to back down, saying: “The point I was making was absolutely correct.” His team believes his position is popular with the Tory membership.

There are also concerns about whether his move from being a moderate Tory who voted to remain in the EU in 2016, to a more Right-wing position, could be targeted by political opponents.

Decision to resign

Mr Jenrick, who has the most detailed policy proposals of any candidate, will make reference to his resignation from Rishi Sunak’s Cabinet last year in his speech in Birmingham.

He will say: “I loathe empty rhetoric. Big talk and little action that’s part of the reason we are where we are. You know I will take a stand. That’s what I did last year.

“It’s frankly the reason I won my constituency of Newark, against every poll and pundit, the only seat we held in the whole of Nottinghamshire, because my constituents – to whom I owe so much – knew I took a stand. For them. For the country. For the change we need.”

The resignation in question came in December 2023, when Mr Jenrick quit as immigration minister, citing frustration that Mr Sunak would not harden-up a law delivering his plan to deport migrants who arrived on small boat crossings to Rwanda.

On Tuesday, Mr Jenrick ruled out a merger with Reform, saying: “I see Reform as a symptom, not a cause. It exists in its current state because my party failed to deliver on some of the big issues like immigration.

“So the answer is not to merge with Reform or ape Reform, although I don’t denigrate it because I’m not going to denigrate the millions of people who vote for it. What I want to do is have very serious and clear answers to those big issues.”

He also suggested he would welcome Boris Johnson, Penny Mordaunt and Andy Street back into the fold, calling for the “Conservative family” to get back together.