Trust is everything
Conservative Party Spring Conference - part 1
08/03/2026
Kevin Hollinrake, Conservative party chairman was the first of three speakers on the second day of the Conservative spring conference in Harrogate. The two speakers that followed: Mel Stride and Kemi Badenoch.
On Saturday morning I arrived ready for the second day of the conference to begin, only to find that I was 90 minutes early for the keynote speeches. The ticket sent out after purchasing the entrance to the conference stated arrival was 9am, a quick look at the programmes for the day made it clear that speeches were from 10:30am and prior to that teas and coffees were all that was on offer.
So, with some time to kill I went for a quick reiki of the conference centre. In the main room that was to be used for speeches, Mel Stride was rehearsing his lines and how best to deliver them to the audience - which was to be rather small.
Speaking to a staff member working at the facility I was told that only 500 people had booked tickets to attend across the three day event, whether everyone booked was present for the politicians speeches I am unsure. However, sitting in the auditorium when the conference began at 10:30 I do not believe that I was in the company of 500 people.
Just before 10:30am the auditorium was buzzing with chatter. The media camp was positioned at the back close to the door with a clear view of the stage. I found my seat at the opposite end of the room surrounded by what appeared to be steadfastly loyal conservative party members, each eager and excited to hear what was going to be said across the next two hours.
It began with the national anthem, everyone standing and singing, barely in time with one another. Then Kevin Hollinrake, in my view working as a warm up act, stood and spoke at length about the mistakes made in the past by his party and the ambition the party has to be back in government, claiming “We can win again”.
Really, he did not deviate from the script the party has been using since they lost the general election. He said exactly what they think people want to hear.
“We lost trust…trust is everything”.
At least five times in his speech alone `trust` was mentioned. It seemed that, if `change` had been the labour party mantra then was `trust` to become the mantra of the conservatives?
Mel Stride swiftly followed and immediately acknowledged how low his party had sunk and the amount of support they had lost. He told the audience that he “clung on by just 61 votes” in 2024 and how one of his constituents admitted in a supermarket car park that they would not vote for him because “I don`t even know who`s side you are on”.
Throughout the rest of his speech Stride returned again and again to telling the audience who the conservatives were on the side of.
“We are on the side of the people who want to contribute”
In the week of the chancellor's spring statement, the shadow chancellor did use the conference as an additional opportunity to take aim at her capabilities. He criticised, as many have, the government spending on what is already becoming an “out of control welfare bill”, how Reeves is turning her back on the people that work to create wealth while incentivising not working. Why work when sitting at home pays more?
In the end, Stride wanted everyone to know “I get it…Rachel Reeves does not get it”. But can saying this to a minimal number of attendees at a spring conference really help boost the Conservative party's image nationally. The real test comes in May and after that the Conservatives may not exist in the form we have known for so long.
