Nobody at this year’s Conservative Party Conference can have any doubt over where to find the real star of the show.
After all, there are arrows around the main exhibition floor pointing them towards the entrance for the Birmingham Tapestry.
It’s all anyone has been talking about in the days leading up to the event at the city’s International Conference Centre: an 80-foot parody of the Bayeux Tapestry, telling the story of British politics since the 2024 election.
The concept is bizarre, but it’s certainly impressive in person. There are ’embroidered’ depictions – seemingly made with AI – of Angela Rayner vaping in a dinghy and Nigel Farage arguing with Count Binface.
This self-consciously daft stunt is the clearest sign yet that the Tories have moved past what you might call their ‘apology era’.
More than two years on from their routing at the 2024 general election, the party believes it has found the approach that will make them a viable force again in time for the next one.
Much of that is down to leader Kemi Badenoch. The last time the Tories held their conference in Birmingham two years ago, they were still in the midst of a contest to find Rishi Sunak’s replacement.
It took time for Badenoch to convince the party they’d made the right choice, with a few shaky performances at early PMQs.
But after a bit of time to settle down, and the departure of would-be rival Robert Jenrick to Reform (shown in the tapestry under the heading ‘Here Kemi expelleth the turncoat’), she looks about as secure as it’s possible to be.
Her approval rating with the public has risen significantly since this time last year, and while that boost in support hasn’t translated to the Conservatives more widely, the party is still afloat and competing with Labour and Reform at the top of the polls.
They even won a Westminster by-election earlier this year in Aberdeen South – you may not have noticed, since it took place the same day as Andy Burnham won in Makerfield.
So, what is this approach that seems to be paying off? In the conference programme, Badenoch writes that her plans are ‘centred around principles our party should never have abandoned’, such as free enterprise and solid borders.
The premise of this argument is that the Conservative governments of the years leading up to the 2024 election catastrophe weren’t Conservative governments and she is taking the party back to its roots.
As Nigel Farage’s party dips in the polls after scrutiny of its finances and ultra-wealthy backers, perhaps the Tories have an opportunity to present themselves as a less clumsy right-wing alternative.
Despite the prevailing good mood, there is a long road ahead of this party if they are to find themselves back in government.
Since the departure of big-hitters Sir James Cleverly and Dame Priti Patel from Badenoch’s shadow cabinet, I would be astonished if the average person on the street could name a single member of the opposition top team.
And a bigger question mark hangs over potential deals after the next general election. As British politics splinters, it becomes ever more likely that the Tories will rely on a coalition with Reform UK to get into power.
Badenoch has explicitly ruled this out. Among those not believing her are the Lib Dems, who plan to lean into fears of a Badenoch-Farage pact as a pillar of their electoral strategy.
With a popular leader and a plan to rebuild, it’s no wonder there’s a light-hearted feel to the gathering in Birmingham. But how long can these smiles remain on the faces?
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