The centre-right dominated post-war European politics, but those days are over. To beat populist insurgents, conservatives must remember the ten Cs, says Joe Harrison

Squeezed between Labour and Reform, the Tories are in a desperate struggle for political breathing room. It is tempting to pin this relevance crisis on past blunders – Liz Truss’s infamous mini-budget springs to mind. Yet the party’s problems stem from much more than just a few rough years in office. In truth, they tie into an identity crisis that is threatening centre-right parties across Europe.

Throughout most of Europe’s post-war history, the term ‘centre-right’ was virtually synonymous with electoral success. In the UK, between 1945 and 2000, only one Conservative Party leader – William Hague – failed to reach Number 10. Meanwhile, in Germany, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has held the Chancellorship for 49 years; more than twice the time of its main rival, the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD).

However, these halcyon days have long since passed. The decline is particularly acute in the UK, where the Conservatives recently sank as low as fourth in YouGov’s voter-intention polling.........

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