This image sums up the existential crisis facing the Conservative Party over the next few decades.

I don't see a single way in which the National Conservatism conference has helped moved the British centre-right any closer to addressing this. In fact, the reverse is true. pic.twitter.com/Ia52OBcIJN

— Dr David Jeffery (@DrDavidJeffery) May 17, 2023

A big part of this, surely, reflects tiredness with the Tory party which has been in government since May 2010 and will be there to 2023 or beyond – a period in which it has gone through FIVE different leaders and PMs.

Change is in the air and it is very difficult to see where Sunak goes from here. Expect to see more tensions in the run-up to a general election when maybe 100+ Tory MPs could lose their seats.

The Tories will forever be seen as the party of Brexit and the more this is perceived as being a negative the more they will struggle.

In such a context the party is going to find it hard fighting on two fronts – the blue wall and the red wall where the messaging will need to be so different.

Mike Smithson