Blue wall Conservative voters in Surrey are far from impressed with the government’s obsession with culture wars, and remain unrepentant for tactically backing the Liberal Democrats at last week’s local elections. The prime minister still looks “out of his depth”, uninspiring and unable to set out a straightforward vision six months in the job, according to a panel of Surrey residents who backed the Conservatives at the 2019 election. They believe “the country needs change now”, and the Tories need some time in opposition to sort themselves out.
The focus group, convened by UK More in Common for the Guardian, appeared to want to vote for the Conservatives again, but thought the party had “made fools of themselves despite having so many chances” to restart. Voters also questioned why Sunak was leading a government that seemed far too focused on the “war on wokeness” when people were desperate to find money to buy a carton of milk or a box of eggs. “Of course they should make sure that prejudice isn’t tolerated, but to pick it up as a cause at this precise moment is not good timing. Let’s fix the economy and make sure people are warm in their houses.”
While Sunak has not publicly used divisive language on issues such as grooming gangs, immigration or trans rights, he has never criticised the rhetoric that his colleagues have used on such matters. And his apparent inability to personally shape his government trickles into his stance on the economy and immigration, according to these blue wall voters. “Rishi has had the perfect opportunity to show some backbone since he came into No 10,” according Michael, 35, a car salesman. “He managed to make a great career for himself as a banker at Goldman Sachs and other successful companies … but when you look at him, he’s just timid, like a child in the background encouraging his cabinet to avoid doing daily interviews … He had the perfect opportunity to discredit Liz Truss’s plans [from the backbenches], but he remained silent.” Although Sunak has made it his mission to “stop the boats”, 54-year-old Angela fears he is “brushing tackling the issue [of Channel crossings] under the carpet. Pretty much like everything else.” Steve, 67, who is retired, agrees with the principle of the Conservatives’ stance on tackling “political correctness gone wrong” but believes the party has taken it too far. Asked if Sunak has what it takes to lead the Conservatives to victory at the next election, he said: “I don’t get any sort of great vision from him for the future, really. He’s just more of the same.”
“More of the same” to these Surrey voters essentially equates Sunak’s cabinet to Boris Johnson and his government of “mistrust and lies”. Sunak’s attempts to distance himself from the actions of his former boss have failed in the eyes of these blue wall voters who believe that “at least Boris’s theories were in the right direction”. When asked about Sunak’s leadership skills, all they could do was highlight Johnson’s ability to inspire and captivate the public. Alex, 24, a software engineer, said: “Sunak’s not exempt from all of the ongoings and the mismanagement that had happened [during Johnson’s leadership] … but at least Boris was overt and open. You could get a sense of who he was. Rishi is so covert. I haven’t seen much of him and I don’t know what his real straightforward agenda is.” Alicia, 60, strongly believes the public do not mind if some Conservative MPs have had more privileged backgrounds than much of the public, but they want someone who is visible. “I’m surprised he didn’t come out with a stronger personality – perhaps we were just expecting a bit more. Boris made so much noise, but so do two-year-olds when they want something.” After the Tories’ local election disaster last week, Johnson’s allies said no one should rule out a comeback for the former prime minister. Reflecting on their anti-Tory votes at the locals, some hoped it sent a message to the Tories and urged them to “stop being wishy-washy and actually do something to earn it back”, Michael said. Suzie, 58, added: “The protest votes could be a big wake-up call. But there have been so many mistakes made over the last few years.”
What about Keir Starmer? Steve said: “Unfortunately, he’ll probably be the next prime minister, unless Andy Burnham steps down as mayor of Manchester and is reselected as an MP.” Nick, a financial analyst, added: “Keir and Rishi are quite alike … He’ll end up being the prime minister, but I don’t know for how long.” Luke Tryl, the director of More in Common, said: “These voters in the Tory heartland of Surrey should have been core Conservative supporters, but in their own words, the ‘horse had bolted’, and after years of instability, they thought the Conservatives needed a period in opposition. “While they thought Sunak was improvement on his predecessors, they hadn’t yet heard a vision from him, and worried whether he was strong enough to sort out the problems the country was facing, especially as it seemed that he was still being overshadowed by Boris. “There was a warning too for Conservatives championing a ‘war on woke’ at the upcoming National Conservatism Conference, with participants telling us they wanted debates about woke issues to be at the very bottom of the government’s to-do list.”