London: At its ongoing annual conference, the UK’s ruling Conservative Party has vowed to stay in power as the next general election is a little over a year away.
Michael Gove, the UK’s secretary of state for leveling up, delivered an upbeat message to the conference participants in Manchester, saying that the Conservatives will “fight, fight and fight again for the country we love”, reports Xinhua news agency
“We have got a record to be proud of… a record of delivery against the odds. And a record that every one of us should be proclaiming every single day from now until the next general election because this is a record which will give us victory.”
Gove’s speech was seen as a trailblazer for a keynote address by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday.
Delegates and political commentators are eagerly awaiting what will be Sunak’s conference debut in a speech expected to set the scene for the general election, which has to be held by the end of January 2025 at the latest.
The conference has been overshadowed by the fate of the country’s biggest ever infrastructure project, the HS2 high-speed rail line linking London with northern England.
Speculation has reached fever pitch that Sunak will announce a plan to abandon or delay phase two of the 100-billion-pound ($120 billion) project, keeping only the first phase between London and Birmingham, the UK’s second largest city.
Political and business leaders in the north have pleaded with Sunak to keep the project on track, with its original plan to reach Manchester.
In a round of media interviews on September 27, Sunak would not be drawn on what he plans to do about phase two.
Meanwhile, Andy Street, the Conservative mayor of the West Midlands which includes Birmingham, issued a message to Sunak as he addressed reports about the fate of HS2.
Street told Sunak: “You will be turning your back on an opportunity to level up, a once-in-a-generation opportunity.”
In 2019, when Boris Johnson was the occupant of 10 Downing Street, the Conservatives won a formidable 80-seat majority in the law-making House of Commons.
All opinion polls have all but ruled out a repeat of the landslide of 2019, with the main opposition Labour Party predicted to grab the keys to Downing Street under its leader, Keir Starmer.
–IANS
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