Conservative manifesto devoid of ideas shows Rishi Sunak and Tories have run out of road

It built up expectations that the Prime Minister was going to present something big and bold, like the Formula One cars housed nearby. Instead, we rather got a Morris Minor chugging along to the garage.

As opposed to revving up the campaign, the motor racing circuit only highlighted how the Tories have run out of road. I watched the entire manifesto launch, from the media section of the audience - and it felt like a party going through the motions. 

First of all Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary, appeared on the stage, by dint of her experience as an automotive apprentice at Silverstone years before. Then Ben Houchen, the Mayor of Tees Valley, strolled on to introduce Sunak. This was the politician who apparently “forgot” to wear his Conservative rosette at the local elections last month.

It sounded like Houchen had forgotten which year it was, as he reeled off Boris Johnson’s greatest hits from 2019. Labour had taken the north for granted, it was only the Conservatives that care about the Red Wall. He even mentioned Labour trying to overturn Brexit. This would all have sounded more convincing if the Conservative Party chairman Richard Holden hadn’t scarpered from the North East down to Essex to find a safe seat.

Then Rishi Sunak appeared on stage. Gone was the Duracell bunny from the first debate against Keir Starmer, who kept peppering him with questions about tax. Instead, the Prime Minister sounded subdued and slightly deflated, as if the D-Day debacle had really got to him (which wouldn’t be surprising).

Many of the announcements were things the Tories had already tried and failed to do in previous governments. It included the pledge to halve legal migration, which at least is more realistic than the repeated commitment to get the number of people arriving to the tens of thousands. 

Once again, a pledge to abolish no-fault evictions was included, the same promise which failed to be delivered from the 2019 manifesto. And Sunak again pledged to cut 2p of national insurance contributions, a policy which has featured in each of Jeremy Hunt’s last two fiscal events. What is it they say about trying the same thing over and over and expecting a different result?

The Prime Minister even promised that if elected he would get flights off the ground to Rwanda to deport migrants and refugees, something he, and his two predecessors, have failed to do for most of the last Parliament. When quizzed by hacks, he said he couldn’t put a number on the amount of people being deported for “operational security”.

The only notable policies were things like national service, which judging by audience reactions in the debates have become a bit of a joke amongst voters. The manifesto itself is very slim, with many pages either completely empty or just devoted to British flags. 

For the Tories and Sunak to propel themselves back from 20 points down, they needed some big ideas, they needed the kind of splash that Labour’s manifesto made in 2017. Instead, much like Sunak himself, they’re exiting with a bit of a whimper. The Prime Minister finished his speech, answered some questions from the media and then he was off. There was none of the pomp and excitement of waving the manifesto around. 

Tellingly, Sunak did conduct any broadcast interviews after the launch, which is highly unusual. Perhaps the PM and the party are facing up to the fact that they’ve finally run out of road. 

Ralph Blackburn is NationalWorld’s politics editor based in Westminster, where he gets special access to Parliament, MPs and government briefings. If you liked this article you can follow Ralph on X (Twitter) here and sign up to his free weekly newsletter Politics Uncovered, which brings you the latest analysis and gossip from Westminster every Sunday morning.