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“The Tories are having a bit of an existential crisis”
The Conservatives are having a bit of an existential crisis at their annual conference in Manchester this week. The chin stroking, which may seem an odd look for a party that has just begun a fresh term in government following June’s general election, has been prompted by their close shave at that poll.
The result is that the Conservatives have been forced to dust down arguments about the virtues of free market capitalism, which most believed had been won long ago, not least in the Labour party under one of Corbyn’s predecessors, Tony Blair.
The outcome of this debate matters deeply for utilities, which saw many of the signature privatisations of the 1980s and 1990s that Corbyn has vowed to reverse.
Free market thinking remains a strong strand within the Tory party, represented noisily by the right of centre think-tanks that provided the intellectual fuel for the Thatcherite privatisation drive. However, this conference has not let up on the harsher tone towards utilities which has prevailed since Theresa May entered No 10 last year.
BEIS secretary of state Greg Clark voiced his frustration with perceived foot-dragging on a market-wide cap by Ofgem’s Dermot Nolan, who he drily noted provides regular reminders that he is an independent regulator.
However, the energy regulator’s competition-first mindset was until very recently de rigueur in Tory circles. Expect to see no let-up in the rhetoric on prices, though, when the Tories return from their soul searching to parliament next week.
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