Paul Startin: This is not an existential crisis — it’s just time to eat some bitterness

Paul Startin is a long-standing Conservative activist, entrepreneur, and senior volunteer in local government policy development. He writes here in a personal capacity about the future of the Conservative Party.

“Existential” — never have I heard such a grotesque misuse of a word since the abominable rise of “myself” into everyday misuse. Yes, we are all acutely aware that the Conservative Party has taken a political kicking over the past year — and in many ways, deservedly so.

Instead of governing with competent Conservative values and policies, Westminster turned into a soap opera — more Albert Square than Downing Street — with the nation watching on, dismayed.

The feedback on the doorsteps during the Local Elections was overwhelming and sobering: “We don’t know what the Conservative Party stands for anymore.” And so, voters moved to Reform in their droves.

History doesn’t always repeat itself, but it does often rhyme. My first real memory of a General Election was 1997. Here in Stafford, like many places across the country, there was a sense of optimism about what Tony Blair and New Labour might bring — helped along by the cleverly chosen anthem “Things Can Only Get Better”. Blair had dragged Labour from the political wilderness and turned it into a credible organisation, convincing the press and the public that they were fit to govern.

Many Conservatives today are understandably anxious about the Party’s future. But anxiety alone doesn’t rebuild credibility. After 1997, thousands of Conservative activists put their heads down and did the hard yards. Over the next 13 years, we saw an incremental but consistent rise in Conservative councillors — in Boroughs, Districts, and County Councils — and MPs, culminating in the 2010 General Election and David Cameron becoming Prime Minister.

Politics moves faster now. Reform UK has shot up from fringe to front-page, becoming a legitimate third force in British politics. That said, not a week goes by without a Reform-related headline that exposes a level of chaos or incompetence. Nigel Farage’s appearance in Parliament is — to be generous — shambolic. He embodies everything he claims Reform was created to destroy. With luck, Reform will implode and destroy Farage’s own legacy.

Still, we must keep perspective. Reform may have surged, but they may yet burn out just as fast. They should be watched — but not followed. The Conservative Party must run its own race.

We cannot out-Reform Reform. Our Leader does not possess Nigel Farage’s flair for showmanship, and frankly, nor should she try to. What’s happening right now is that Reform are out-Conservative-ing the Conservatives. And that’s because we surrendered the core perception we once owned: being the Party of economic competence.

Let’s be honest — we weren’t that for some years. We layered bureaucracy onto businesses (especially in construction and manufacturing), we introduced well-meaning policies but they raised the tax burden (Funded Childcare), and we saw the state intrude deeper into people’s daily lives. The resulting assault on personal liberty was profound, and the public won’t forget it overnight.

There’s an old saying — and forgive the antiquated gendering, it predates the modern obsession with language policing:
“Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.”

The Conservative Party was on the up for 15 years. The 2019 General Election and 2021 Council Elections saw us reach an astonishing level of representation. But let’s not kid ourselves: many of those victories weren’t because constituents were grateful for the candidate’s name on the ballot paper. It was Boris. His charisma created good times — and those good times bred complacency in some places.

So now we face hardship. And instead of digging in, too many in the Party are throwing their hands up and calling this an “existential threat”. Every time I hear that phrase, frustration boils over. The Chinese have a brilliant expression: chī kǔ — to “eat bitterness” or endure hardship. This is our time to do just that.

Many of us complain that society lacks resilience. Yet when challenged, we act as if defeat is inevitable. This is not the Conservative Party I joined at 17. Where is our stoicism? Our stiff upper lip? Our grit?

The Conservative Party doesn’t need to panic. It needs leadership — leadership that sets out a clear ideological direction. Because the truth is, our core principles haven’t changed:

1. Free Market Capitalism
2. Individual Responsibility
3. Small Government
4. National Sovereignty and Patriotism
5. Law, Order and Social Conservatism

I support the idea that now isn’t the time to dictate detailed policy. We’re several years out from a General Election, and policy must be developed to address the challenges of that moment. But we must articulate what we stand for now. Our Party needs an ideological North Star. With it, members and voters alike can see how we navigate the murky waters ahead.

This is not the end of the Conservative Party. It is a moment to suffer, to endure, to eat bitterness. If we do that, knuckle down, and rebuild with clarity and competence from the leadership, then we will once again prove that we are the Party of Government.

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