The prime minister’s attempt to relaunch his leadership after the confidence vote only exhibited the same old failings
Conservative optimists, whose numbers are thinner on the ground now, tried on Thursday to frame Boris Johnson’s housing speech in Blackpool as a reset of his leadership. There were several fatal flaws in this claim. These include the speech itself, Mr Johnson’s leadership, the Conservative party’s internal confusions and the economic situation facing Britain.
Predictably, the speech was oversold. It was billed as a major policy statement. It was said to be an opportunity for Mr Johnson to unleash his inner Conservative. And it was sold as part of his determination to unite the Tory party. In fact it was none of those things. There was a good case for arguing that the most eye-catching development in the housing world on Thursday was John Lewis’s confirmation that it will build 10,000 new flats on former Waitrose sites.
