Market Turmoil, Disastrous Polls & Doomsday Scenarios Overshadow UK Conservative Party Conference

As the UK Conservative Party Conference kicks off in Birmingham, Prime Minister Liz Truss and her Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng are expected to explain to their own party's grassroots the risks involved in their tax-slashing mini-budget which has given the financial markets the jitters and turned the public sharply behind Labour in seven polls.

UK Prime Minister and her Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng are heading for a grueling four days at the 2022 Conservative Party Conference which is taking place on 2 to 5 October in Birmingham, at the International Convention Centre (ICC).

The event takes place as Tory MPs and the financial markets have continued to react negatively to the government’s economic plan, the so-called mini-budget – envisaging sweeping tax cuts that sent sterling falling to a record low. Furthermore, Britain’s opposition Labour Party looked to establish an insurmountable lead in the spate of recent polls as people's fears rise about their bills and mortgages in the cost of living crisis.

The controversial debt-fueled proposals to cut taxes are anticipated to overshadow the four-day event that nearly two dozen senior Tory MPs are reportedly avoiding deliberately.

An address by Kwarteng to the party's grassroots is set for Monday, and Truss will close the gathering with a keynote speech on 5 October. There will also be speeches from government ministers as well as fringe events.

'Delivering for the Nation'

The conference program has been pared back, with some fringe gatherings removed after the death on 8 September of Queen Elizabeth II. The event starts on Sunday with tributes to the late monarch.

On the first day, headlined 'Delivering for the Nation', scheduled speakers include Conservative Party chairman Jake Berry, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris, leader of the Scottish Conservative Party Douglas Ross, Welsh Secretary Sir Robert Buckland, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, MP Penny Mordaunt and Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands.

In line with a new format, the main speakers are to be limited to two-hour periods on each of the four days, allowing members time to attend fringe events.

'Delivering a Growing Economy'

Day Two of the conference is headlined 'Delivering a Growing Economy' and is to be marked by a keynote speech delivered by Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng.

On Monday, criticism of Truss and her government is expected to be levelled by Tory grandee Michael, Lord Heseltine and former justice secretary David Gauke. On the eve of the conference, Gauke warned in an article for The Guardian that the Tory party was "lost in a fantasy world".

"The currency and gilt markets remain jittery and, with the Conservative party conference commencing in Birmingham, every word said by the prime minister and chancellor will be closely scrutinized to see if they fully comprehend the situation. The evidence so far is not encouraging," he had written.

Michelle Donelan, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, International Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Ranil Jayawardena, Work and Pensions Secretary Chloe Smith, and Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg, will all make speeches on Monday.

Among the themes will be, ‘Energy Crisis: Can the UK afford Net-Zero?’ and ‘What does levelling up really mean'.

Overall, this autumn conference will focus extensively on the levelling up agenda, originally espoused by Boris Johnson’s government as his "defining mission". Its aim is to give people and communities that feel they have been left behind “a chance to catch up”, and was a key theme of the Conservatives' 2019 election campaign. Levelling up appears in the title of more than 40 events scheduled for the Tory conference.

‘Delivering Better Public Services’

Tuesday, 4 October, will feature speeches from Health Secretary, Therese Coffey, and Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, on a day headlined 'Ddelivering Better Public Services'.

UK Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, will also set out the country's foreign policy priorities.

Other speakers will be Education Secretary Kit Malthouse, Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan, and Justice Secretary Brandon Lewis.

Among the themes for the day are, 'Big business goes net zero: virtue-signaling greenwash or not?' and, ‘Can AUKUS shift the balance in the pacific?’

'Getting Britain Moving'

On the event’s final day, headlined 'Getting Britain Moving', Liz Truss will make her Prime Ministerial conference debut.

Ahead of the conference, Truss gave an interview for the BBC, accepting that the presentation of the mini-budget was flawed, and her government should have "laid the ground better".

Truss has doubled down on her controversial tax-cutting agenda, vowing she is "going to do things differently" and that "there is no option but to change".

On the eve of the Tory conference, several deeply pessimistic opinion polls showed that the government’s biggest tax giveaway in 50 years which will overwhelmingly benefit Britain’s wealthy, and will initially be paid for out of additional borrowing, has prompted many voters to rethink their Tory support.

A recent Opinium poll showed that 55 percent of voters disapprove of Liz Truss as PM, and just 18 percent approve, which is worse than Boris Johnson during his final days in office. Seventy-five percent of voters think the government has lost control of the economy, and 39 percent think a Labour government under Sir Keir Starmer would do better.