Moments before Rishi Sunak took to the stage at the Conservative Party Conference, a video flashed on a screen. Images of fields, children, roads and vaccines appeared above the heads of the hundreds waiting for the PM’s speech. “Change is…” the words read. “Change is…the Conservatives.”
In his address in Manchester, the prime minister told his party: “It is time for a change.” He confirmed his intention to scrap HS2, Europe’s largest infrastructure project, claiming “the right thing to do when the facts change, is to have the courage to change.” And speaking about his decision to U-turn on manifesto net zero pledges, he added: “Change is difficult, particularly for those who disagree.”
Altogether, Sunak used the word change 30 times. You would be forgiven for thinking another party has been in power for the last 13 years.
