A Sit Down: Sephronar and his Resurgent Tories

The Independent sits down to talk with long serving Parliamentarian Sephronar to discuss the future of conservatism in an ever increasingly left wing Britain.

Good morning. I'm Jayson Ball of the Independent, and I'm here for the next instalment of my "A Sit Down" series. Today I'm joined by one of the rocks of contemporary British politics, that being the Leader of the Conservative Party, the Most Honourable Marquess of St. Ives, Sir Sephronar.

The Conservative Party has seen itself return to the spotlight as it continues to grow in the polls and in its presence in parliamentary debates. Recently overtaking the Labour Party in opinion polling, it has delivered its own Shadow Budget with the help of the Liberal Democrats and has begun shaping itself up to be a force for change in the upcoming election.

So Sephronar, thank you for speaking with me today, a pleasure as always. I'd like to start off by asking you, why do you think more and more voters are returning to the Conservatives?

Thank you so much for having me, it’s a pleasure to be here and thank you also for what you’re doing in increasing the accessibility to politicians and public figures - making them more approachable in the public eye, that’s so important and makes a huge difference, so it’s great to be here.

You’re quite right that over the course of the last term we have seen ourselves rise from about 16% in the polls to a more considerable ~24% in recent days. As for why this has happened, I believe the answer is twofold - firstly a return to a more structured and organised party, instead of just doing things seemingly at random under previous Leaders Chi0121 and EruditeFellow which saw our polling drop 10 points over the previous two terms - under former leader Skullduggery12 (may he rest in peace), and now myself, we have worked hard to both reorganise and reposition ourselves to be a party that is ready to lead a government. We have built a strong team around us who have been keen to get out there in public and in the House of Commons, writing legislation and debating, as well as improving our communications in the press. And that’s the second reason - we’ve had a renewed sense of pride as a party, and know that if we work hard and present our vision of positivity to the British public that we can succeed. It’s been a long road, and there’s still some way to go, but this success is due to every member of the party - and of course due to the voters who are turning more and more back towards us every day!

I would also like to pay tribute to the Liberal Democrats for their hard work in making the shadow budget a reality - I believe that we make a good team, and hopefully it showed the British public that an alternative to the Solidarity-led governments of recent years is possible, and that it doesn’t have to be this way.

When I sat down with Youmaton, she stated that Solidarity has engaged in uncooperative negotiations, forcing Labour's hand and a severe lack of "pragmatism".  On the other hand, you seem to have engaged in a pragmatic approach with your work with the Liberal Democrats, as well as perhaps a more conciliatory approach towards legislation, debate and policy positions.

Would you agree with the assessment that this pragmatism is what is working for you now, and that perhaps the previous failure of the Coinflip government was down to a lack of this cooperation and pragmatic approach that you are now emphasising, which is obviously resonating with voters?

To be honest, when I read that I was not at all surprised - the fact that we in the Conservatives have not even been approached over the budget, in fact the Prime Minister and Chancellor flat out refused to work with us on the budget, and that says a lot over their ability or willingness to work constructively with other parties over this whole process. You would think that they would be keen to work with anyone and everyone who showed willingness, in an attempt to make their budget representative of the whole country - sadly that has not been the case, but it is not surprising. What is surprising though is how time and time again Labour get caught up in the process, and end up running back to Solidarity like an ex-partner that they can’t resist, despite them being treated like nothing less than a lap dog. I have great respect for many politicians across the political divide, Frost_Walker2017 included, however they do themselves a disservice by giving unconditional support to a party who has no intention of supporting them in return.

We have tried to show, through our work with the Liberal Democrats on the shadow budget as well as our willingness to support legislation that isn’t necessarily ‘right-wing’, that the Conservative Party are a party that is ready for government - who are ready to work across the political divide in the best interest of the country, because that is what our country deserves. If we are successful at this election, as we intend to be, I am clear that I am ready to work with any party who wants to give the country an alternative to Solidarity - including Labour.

I wouldn’t necessarily disagree with the assessment that our recent changes are making a difference practically - it certainly helps internal morale that people are willing to work with us again - indeed the calamity of coinflip is something that we needed to do a lot of soul-searching over, and make the necessary changes, which is why I refused former leader EruditeFellow’s recent application to rejoin the party as we need to ensure a continued break from that past. I was surprised that Solidarity accepted him given their widespread previous criticism of him, not least the Motion of No Confidence in his ability as Foreign Secretary, and this is something that everyone should be watching very closely - if they ever make him a Minister again then it is clear that all they care about is political opportunism and not principles.

On that topic of Budget transparency, the recent Lord's Committee into Fiscal Responsibility, though marred with some controversy, recommended that there be further cooperation with all those in Parliament on the Budget, so I think perhaps there is something for Solidarity to learn there.

You also mention of course that you are willing to work cooperatively with any party, including Labour, to get Solidarity out of Government. Following their merger with Coalition, there were many political pundits opining that they would move rightward, however they at least outwardly haven't demonstrated such. Do you think despite this, there is still perhaps desire for more 'sensible' economic policy from Labour, and that they would be willing to work with you in Government to achieve such?

I think you’re probably right there, although I asked a question along those lines in the recent Chancellor MQs session and sadly the Chancellor is not willing to implement the recommendation to have a ‘cross-party committee’ in time for this budget, but instead expressed that the Government will merely consider whether or not it is practical for future budgets. Given that during the committee hearing process the Chancellor seemingly advocated for such a budget committee, I am surprised that they are not willing to practice what they preach - but again, this is probably not so surprising given their unwillingness to work with us on the budget. I think it’s a lesson for us all to learn though, that not all of us is in possession of all the answers and collaboration is often a strength in that it can bring up new ideas or show errors that others missed - such as the errors which kicked off the committee in the first place.

In answer to your second point, I believe that as a former member (Press Officer and two-time contender for the Leadership) I have some valuable insight on this subject. It is not unexpected that the small number of active members in the former Coalition! party have been seemingly diluted by those who outnumbered them in Labour, indeed while a couple of them were former Conservatives there were just as many if not more former Lib Dems and Labour members as well - many of them chose to retire from activity following the merger, and indeed some of them came back across to us and some of them went independent or indeed went back to the Lib Dems. What is perhaps more interesting is the shift caused by having a Leader and Chairman who were formerly in the Lib Dem Leadership, and a Deputy Leader who was formerly the Leader of the Conservative Party. While I disagree with Chi’s debating style at times, and I disagree with Frosty’s unwillingness to properly oppose the Government as Leader of the Opposition, I do believe that this change means that a coalition deal is more palatable to both of our memberships. I am certainly eager to work with Labour, and I advocated for a coalition deal with them following the last election but they sadly decided to instead go alone, but Ray was Leader then and I believe that things have changed since. We definitely have a more centre-left Labour Party now in my view, they just need to have the confidence to express it outwardly!

Very apt assessment, I think everyone is aware of the latent centrism that is there in Labour in some capacity, and I suppose they have perhaps been spurred by the formation of a splinter, and of course the Duchess of Essex's statement calling for a more 'unionist' party, to move further towards the centre.

In terms of the upcoming election, what plans do you have that may set you on a course for either Government or Official Opposition, of course we have fewer electorates and more list seats so there will be a drive for you to be further involved in debates and national campaigning.

I am sure that other former members of Coalition! would agree with me that it was certainly a broad church and probably more centrist than many gave it credit for. As for Labour, we shall have to see what effect the splinter of Unity will have on their numbers, I suspect that we will see them fight the General Election, then either support Labour into Government or merge back into them - but only time will tell. It is certain however that if the Conservatives want to see ourselves back into Government consistently, we are likely going to need more centrist or even centre-right party options available to us, gone are the days of the LPUK, but we can begin a new period of centre/centre-right governance with ourselves, the Lib Dems, and potentially a third successful party. Time will tell, but we’re going to give everything that we possibly can to the upcoming election in an attempt to bring back a moderate stance to government in the United Kingdom, and less left-wing extremism which is really becoming rather stale.

As for our plans for the election, we’ll be fighting in near enough every seat - I’ve been keeping track of announced candidate numbers as I’m sure most parties have, and the Conservatives currently have the most, however I expect to see both Solidarity and Labour fielding a full slate of candidates as usual so we will have some interesting contests on our hands. What is unknown is the effect that Unity will have on things - although given they have only just entered politics they may be relying on hoovering up a few list seats in this election. We’ll be fighting hard in every seat, and showing that the Conservatives have a positive vision for the Country, giving people a proper alternative to the current coalition of chaos - my message will be simple. I want people to lend the Conservative and Unionist Party their vote - right now, almost a quarter of the United Kingdom has faith in us and our ability to govern (more than the official opposition), but I am certain that many many more of them are wondering if things can be better with us at the helm. Whether people have voted in the past for Solidarity, Labour, or for any other party - in this election, I will be asking them to vote for change. We have a plan to fix Britain through our manifesto, but to deliver that plan we need their support.

It really does sound like this emphasis on change is what you'll be heading into the election with, and it sure does represent what some may say 'real' opposition to the Solidarity Government.

As the lead-up to the election continues, we will continue to watch eagerly at what the Conservatives are doing, and I look forward to seeing what policies and proposals you bring to the table.

Well, I think that's all we have time for, thank you for speaking with me and wishing you all the best, though I'm sure this won't be the last I hear from you!

Thank you very much Jayson, it is always a pleasure to speak with you and your readers, and I will always make myself available to do so - I believe that communication is a vital component of leadership, and if we in the Conservatives are elected into Government then I shall ensure that proper communication is exercised at all levels in Government in a way which we have not had for some time; whether that be through speaking with the press, showing up on time for our MQ sessions and giving proper answers, or ensuring that there is proper cross-party communication throughout our tenure. Nothing is more important than listening to our electorate, finding out what they want to see delivered, and working across the political divide to make that happen. We are after all elected to represent our constituents, not ourselves, and a Conservative Government led by myself will ensure that finally happens. Thanks again, and have a great week.

That was Leader of the Conservative Party Sephronar, as he details his plans for a Britain post-Solidarity, and emphasises the pragmatism needed in politics. A very salient viewpoint which has seen itself come up throughout politics just this week.