Rishi Sunak’s conference speech: what he said – and what he really meant

Our chief political commentator’s assessment of the chancellor’s speech at the Conservative Party’s virtual conference

What Rishi Sunak said: I want to thank the prime minister for entrusting me with this job and whose friendship has been invaluable.

What he meant: I do not want him to believe any of that stuff in the media about how I am plotting to replace him. 

What he said: I’ve seen up close the burden the prime minister carries. We all know he has an ability to connect with people in a way few politicians manage. It is a special and rare quality.

What he meant: He’s a show pony.  

What he said: But what the commentators don’t see – the thing I see – is the concern and care he feels, every day, for the wellbeing of the people of our country. Yes, it’s been difficult, challenges are part of the job, but on the big calls, in the big moments, Boris Johnson has got it right and we need that leadership.

What he meant: Never does any harm to lay it on with a trowel. 

What he said: Because we are only part way through this crisis.

What he meant: I don’t want to take over yet. Let my friend Boris soak up as much of the bad news as possible. 

What he said: Conservatives believe in … the nobility of work and free enterprise.

What he meant: If I sound like Gordon Brown it is because I am serious about holding on to those former Labour voters we won over last time.

What he said: Our values are … rooted in the fundamental belief that individual freedom enables both the greatest achievement and the gentlest kindness.

What he meant: Compassionate Conservatism, once defined as indifference with a sob in its throat. 

What he said: Whilst we would not have wished for this burden, it has been for many, for the first time in their lives, a moment in which government ceased to be distant and abstract, but became real, and felt, and something of which people could be proud. 

What he meant: When coronavirus happened, we Conservatives suddenly realised that big government could be good government. 

What he said: Even if this moment is more difficult than any you have ever faced, even if it feels like there is no hope, I am telling you that there is, and that the overwhelming might of the British state will be placed at your service.

What he meant: Massive state intervention is good. Everything we Conservatives believed has been turned on its head. 

What he said: We will not let talent wither, or waste, we will help all who want it find new opportunity and develop new skills.

What he meant: War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Socialism is conservatism. 

What he said: And we will protect the public finances – over the medium term, getting our borrowing and debt back under control.

What he meant: Magic and moonshine. Massive state intervention, no new taxes and the books balanced. 

What he said: We have a sacred responsibility to future generations to leave the public finances strong.

What he meant: When I say “sacred” I mean we are in the realm of the supernatural, superstition and ritual. 

What he said: If instead we argue there is no limit on what we can spend, that we can simply borrow our way out of any hole, what is the point in us?

What he meant: It would almost be as if the Conservative Party, the most successful in the history of democracy, didn’t actually believe in anything. 

What he said: I have never pretended there is some easy cost-free answer.

What he meant: I am pretending there is some easy cost-free answer.

What he said: Hard choices are everywhere.

What he meant: Boris can make them. My plan is to sweep in at the last moment when we seem to be facing certain electoral destruction. 

What he said: I will not give up, no matter how difficult it is.

What he meant: I am biding my time. 

What he said: We share the same values, the Conservative party and the country. And these values are not devoid of meaning to people. They are about protecting that which is meaningful to them. Their family, their home, their job, their ability to choose for themselves what is best for them and those they love.

What he meant: A bit of philosophical uplift for the end, and some archaic syntax always lends a bit of gravitas (“that which is meaningful”). I’ve deleted the part about learning to live without fear – that didn’t go down so well with the fearmongering prime minister when I tried it out two weeks ago. 

What he said: To create second chances, to see potential met, and to extend the awesome power of opportunity to all who seek it. To answer questions of character with action not rhetoric. To put the people first, their hopes and their aspirations. And above all, to be worthy of the great trust they have placed in us.

What he meant: Keep it short. Now is not the time to outshine the boss.