Following the Conservative Party's historic loss at the General Election in May, Rishi Sunak took the decision to step down as leader of the party.
This has triggered a leadership election amongst the party, with six individuals so far announcing their intention to stand and to provide their vision for a Conservative Britain fit for the 21st Century.
Robert Jenrick, Member of Parliament for Newark, is one of the candidates seeking the support of members in his bid to become the next leader.
Jenrick has been the MP for Newark since winning the seat in a by-election in 2014, and most recently served as Minister of State for Immigration until his resignation over the Government's Rwanda asylum plan, as he had "strong disagreements" with Sunak stating that "stronger protections" were needed for the country's borders.
In this, Jenrick has often been cited as being "nothing if not honest" in confronting the hard truths, as outlined by Cllr Tom Jones writing for Conservative Home. In a recent article for The Times, Jenrick stated “the fundamental reason we lost... is because we failed to deliver what we promised for the British people.”
In that article, Jenrick identified migration as the “biggest and most damaging failure” of the Conservative Party. For, despite promises, the Government "insulted the public with decisions that caused net migration to spiral to unprecedented levels. Even when the failure was evident and alarm bells ringing, corrective action was painfully slow.”
In a packed out meeting at the Three Mariners in Bagshot with members of Surrey Conservative Association, Jenrick outlined his pragmatic approach to how the Conservative Party can restore trust amongst the electorate by focusing upon the core principles of conservatism.
Speaking, Jenrick said:
"Our party needs to change, a lot. But we need to change in keeping with our best traditions and our values.
"Those values include moderation, generosity of spirit, respect for institutions and for one another, a desire for national unity, not division.
"We lost in part because we stopped upholding these values. So as we change, we must stay a broad church, but one with a common creed.
"I will unite us around the actual solutions to the challenges we face, that's why I'm standing to be leader of our party."
In the coming weeks, we hope other prospective candidates standing will also take up the open invite extended to them and visit Surrey Heath as they seek to win support to become our next party leader.
Pictured, Surrey Heath Conservative Association with Conservative leadership candidate Rt. Hon. Robert Jenrick MP
