Josh Coldspring-White: Conservatives should build a smaller, ambitious state

Josh Coldspring-White is a Bromley Conservative councillor. He is a communications officer at the Social Market Foundation and previously worked at Conservative Campaign Headquarters.

It’s funny where you end up on election night.

For me, I was at a watch party with some friends – we’d just been out, toiling in the final hours of a campaign that I had mostly spent feeling like I had been permanently banging my head against a brick wall.

The result trickled in, and there was infinite silence.

A year on, the brick wall sensation still lingers occasionally. But I still keep coming back to a fundamental question that I know others on the centre-right do too: what is our path back to power?

With a successful shadow Cabinet reshuffle completed, now seems appropriate to sketch out an answer.

Labour haven’t used the reins of government effectively – and there is a case for a smaller state.

A consensus has emerged that Labour did not plan enough for Government, leading to a muddled Whitehall.

Departments are veering off on different policy tangents – healthcare and education spring to mind as example – and this is compounded by a disconnect between Ministers and the PLP.

For the Conservatives, Kemi Badenoch is right to be talking about the economy, and how a smaller state would work better.

At a time of significant budgetary pressures, the responsible thing to do is to find ways to reduce government expenditure. There are promising signs too that the party’s offering will highlight sensible tax cuts to boost a sluggish economy, such as cutting increases in National Insurance.

The ghost of Liz Truss still looms large amongst the public. It is vital the party rebuilds its reputation for economic competence.

But this shouldn’t curtail the ambition Conservatives have to improve Britain.

After 14 years of chopping and changing our pitch, one MP remarked to me that the Conservative Party “just needs to be conservative”.

But for Britain to become a more conservative country, the party needs to be bold in how it would seek to use a smaller, more nimble state to further those aims.

The best Conservative governments – from Disraeli and Macmillan, to Thatcher and Cameron – have governed with economic competence and ambitious social reform hand in hand. It is this magic formula that the party needs to tap into to win again.

We shouldn’t settle on a firm offer just yet, but a rough sketching out of initiatives in certain areas can signal to the public that we have the ideas to solve pressing issues.

Using education to further social mobility

Ask any Conservative and they will tell you that an abiding success of the last government was education reform. Improving standards in the roughest schools, backed by a robust Ofsted machine was the right thing to do.

Conservatives should return to this area – setting out how to ensure results can be upheld when students have access to AI at their fingertips.

A long-term view of the curriculum should be prioritised, with reviews set to happen once a decade rather than sporadically, so teachers and students can keep pace.

But fundamentally, education needs to be seen through the prism of furthering social mobility. A recent report from the SMF suggests a 10-year Social Mobility Strategy. The Conservatives should seize on this.

A real, costed plan to Level Up Britain

Levelling Up spoke to ensuring opportunity, no matter one’s background.

But the implementation didn’t happen. The Levelling Up White Paper, as good as it was, was released three years after the 2019 General Election.

The Conservatives should utilise new Policy Commissions to put flesh on the bones of this vital area.

By the next election, a fully-costed, fully-funded plan to level up the country can show the party takes regional inequality seriously; proving to voters it is doing the work to regain their trust.

It is also vital if the party is to compete against Reform – SMF analysis has shown that towns where Levelling Up funding was distributed or pledged were less likely to vote for the party of the populist right.

Putting families at the centre of government

When I think of why I am a Conservative, central for me is the view that family is the bedrock of society. It must be cherished, nurtured and – at a time when the world feels so uncertain – strengthened.

It is also crucial if we are to solve the fundamental challenge of the falling birth rate, as well as putting the UK on a sustainable pathway to drastically reducing immigration.

This cannot be distilled into one department. It must be a whole-government effort.

As a start, Neil O’Brien should make this a central focus in his new role as Shadow Minister for Policy Renewal and Development. This can ensure it is embedded as a priority across the whole Badenoch frontbench.

Whilst Conservatives are clear about maintaining the two-child benefit cap, there should be a financial offering to help struggling families get ahead. Tax breaks, ambitious plans to expand Family Hubs and help with housing should be considered.

Britain: The home of opportunity

Forgive me for coming up with yet another slogan, but seriously: the Conservatives should be aiming for nothing less than making Britain the home of opportunity.

After all, that is the key aim of any conservative government – furthering aspiration, economic security and hope.

A pathway to a smaller state is the right thing to do to getting Britain back to economic health. But good policy in the right areas means we can regain the trust of the electorate, be prepared to govern, and make our islands a better place to live.

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