The Chairman of the Conservative Party has told West Midlands News that the party is ready for an election ‘whenever it comes.’
As the party clips at the heels of Reform UK in the polls, the party’s chairman says the party is ‘absolutely’ ready for the prospects of going to the polls. With Conservative Party Conference returning to the West Midlands in just under a week’s time, the party is preparing for what will be an important opportunity to set out its policy on some of the country’s most contentious issues such as welfare and defence.
Earlier this month, the tories committed to cutting welfare spending if elected in order to fund defence. Something the Prime Minister ruled out a few weeks ago at Prime Minister’s questions. He did however claim that the government would cut welfare and fund defence in a ‘Labour way’.
Mr. Hollinrake told West Midlands News that he is ‘skeptical’ of an early general election. The Conservative Chairman said that current Labour commitments contained in the Prime Minister’s keynote address to the Labour Party Conference would be ‘huge risks in a manifesto’ and pointed to the Labour Party’s small lead in the polls as reasons to be skeptical of speculation around an early election.
How would the region’s life sciences and defence sector look under a Conservative administration?
With both the life sciences and defence sector thriving in the region, the approach on the sectors from the next government could have seismic impacts on the regional economy as well as the goods and services provided by the sectors
In recent years, the region has been home to both the Defence Procurement Conference and Life Sciences Week – revealing the region’s deep-rooted link to the sectors. With both of these conferences set to return to the Midlands in 2027, West Midlands News sought to hear what a Conservative government could mean for these crucial sectors locally.
During West Midlands News’ interview with Kevin Hollinrake MP, who previously served as the Minister for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business, expressed the importance of SMEs in the defence and life sciences sectors, calling SMEs the ‘most innovative part of the economy’.
And what about the West Midlands Mayoralty?
With all the speculation of an upcoming General Election, it can be easy to forget that in less than two years time the West Midlands will be going to the polls to vote for the next mayor.
Back in 2024, the incumbent Conservative mayor, Andy Street, narrowly lost the West Midlands Mayoralty to Labour’s Richard Parker. But at the time, Labour were more than 20 points ahead of the Tories in some polls – now that lead sits at between five and ten percent. So do the Tories think they can win back the Mayoralty they held for two terms?
It seems so. Despite the risk from Reform, especially in the Midlands, Kevin Hollinrake MP, pointed to recent Reform UK election prospects, where the party performed worse than expected and expressed clear optimism that the party could once again win the West Midlands Mayoralty.
The Chairman also told West Midlands News that Conservative Mayors such as Ben Houchan are ‘head and shoulders above their counterparts’ from other parties in other regions of the country and expressed his belief of how positive track records in those areas will play a part in the decision-making process for many voters in areas with elections.
Conservative Party Conference Returns to Birmingham early next week
On Sunday, Conservative Party Conference kicks off in Birmingham once again. The Party’s Chairman told West Midlands News that he is ‘incredibly excited’ ahead of what he said will be a ‘fantastic members focused’ conference with a range of ‘good policy announcements’.
Mr. Hollinrake praised last year’s conference and highlighted how successful the Tories have been at recovering from where they were prior to their conference in Manchester last year. Whether this year’s conference is as successful as 2025’s is yet to be known. But with a tense political backdrop with narrow polls, it could prove to be one of the most consequential conferences for the party in decades.
