Sophy Ridge on Sunday Interview with Helen Whately Deputy Chair Conservative Party

ANY QUOTES USED MUST BE ATTRIBUTED TO SKY NEWS, SOPHY RIDGE ON SUNDAY

SOPHY RIDGE: On Thursday, voters across England and Northern Ireland will be going to the polls in the local elections and the way things are looking it could be a difficult night for the Conservatives. The party’s new Deputy Chair is Helen Whately and she joins us on the show now, thank you very much for being with us. So how long have you been in this job now?

HELEN WHATELY: A week or so, not very long.

SR: So a baptism of fire with the local elections next week, what would be a good night for the Conservatives?

HELEN WHATELY: There is no doubt that it is going to be a difficult night for us, the local elections are going to be difficult. They come for us at a time in the election cycle where they were always going to be difficult so the seats that are up for election next week were the ones that were last elected in 2015, general election year, so that tends to boost turnout. It was also a good general election for us when we won a majority so we were at a high point.

SR: At the same time though, it’s not just because of the time in the election cycle that this is going to difficult for the Conservatives is it? I mean Theresa May has said consistently that we would be leaving the EU on the 29th March and we’re still in.

HELEN WHATELY: You are absolutely right and when I’m out on the doorstep, as I’ve been doing a lot, I hear from time to time people say, well I’m really frustrated with the policy issues not just of the Conservatives but the policy issues in general because of where we are with Brexit. Yes, I say to them yes, I realise that and I realise how frustrated you are with Parliament, I’m frustrated too as an MP but these are local elections, this is about who you are electing to be your local councillor, who you want to provide your local services, who you think is going to do the best job for you in all those day to day services …

SR: It’s also a chance to attack the government as well isn’t it?

HELEN WHATELY: Yes, people do see it as the opportunity to send a protest, send a message and that could well hit the figures for us but that’s what I’m saying, I feel sorry for councillors who are standing for election and it is really important to remind people that this is about your local services and who you want in local government.

SR: Well let’s talk about some of those councillors because they are having a pretty difficult time of it and one Conservative councillor telling the website Conservative Home that things are extraordinarily bad, they have seriously considered stopping canvassing in case it does more harm than good and then they went on to say “Over and over again people are saying they will never vote Conservative again, I’ve been campaigning for several years now and I’ve never encountered this pure rage on the doorstep before.” I mean have you seen some of that pure rage?

HELEN WHATELY: Well there is a lot of anger about and you always have a mixed experience canvassing and you have, some people always over the years kind of shut the door and not want to talk to you but I feel there is more anger in politics than there was before but on the other hand there are still people who want to talk to us and just the other day canvassing, for the first time ever I got a hug and a kiss from a lady but there are people who actually do …

SR: Important clarification!

HELEN WHATELY: Well it might have seem inappropriate otherwise! But actually particularly when you focus on it, it’s about the local issues.

SR: What are your big flagship policies, your new policies that you announced in the last week or so going into these local elections?

HELEN WHATELY: Well we always say local elections are about how your local councils deliver for you so if you look at Conservative councils across the country, they’re the ones who provide better value for money for the taxpayer, lower taxes, better recycling …

SR: But what are the policies, give me some policies?

HELEN WHATELY: Well this is about the local government and we can talk about national policies if you like, we can talk about climate change which is clearly very topical and I can talk about that but this is about what local councils will do for people.

SR: The thing is though it’s not that easy to always split between national policies and local issues. There are a lot of questions because Labour recently have been pumping out it seems like a new policy every day, whether it’s on SATS, whether it’s on bus routes, whether it’s on the environment. I mean you are being outflanked here because I’m struggling to see the same amount of policy generation coming from your side.

HELEN WHATELY: So I know that Labour are pumping out … I’ve seen some of those policy announcements although of course that’s about what they would like to do if they were in government rather than a question about local government which is what these elections are about.

SR: But it matters locally, bus services matter locally don’t they, education matters?

HELEN WHATELY: I completely agree and these are things that I campaign about and feel very strongly about, for instance schools and actually if we are going to talk about schools the fact that standards are going up in schools thanks to the Conservative government and it is a really important message to send out there but I also recognise that nationally we have been busy trying to do Brexit and in the meantime yes, policy work is going on but there is only so much bandwidth but I do think this is a good moment to not be talking so much about Brexit but to focus on what local councils do for people

SR: We’ve got the European elections as well potentially, they are not definitely going to happen but it does seem there is a very good chance that we might be fighting local elections as well and they could be even worse potentially for the Conservative party. I just want to show you a recent poll of European Parliament voting intentions and you can see here, this is Opinion Research, the Brexit Party astonishingly, given the fact that they are so new, on top at 28% with Labour, the Conservatives down to a 14% share of the vote. I mean that looks quite worrying doesn’t it?

HELEN WHATELY: Well I hope that we don’t have the European Elections and again you hear that canvassing, why are we having elections when we voted to leave? I really hope that we can avoid them by making sure that we get the Withdrawal Agreement through and we move on and we do Brexit, that for me is Plan A as much to say that we are having the European elections but we do know that we had to actually get the process going and yes, if they do happen people are going to use them as a chance to say either I really wanted to leave and vote for Nigel Farage or I really, really want to stay and actually it does reflect the strong division in our country. I hope that we can move forward and just get on and do Brexit but a sensible leaving with a deal Brexit.

SR: Is Theresa May a problem on the doorstep?

HELEN WHATELY: Actually I’d say on the contrary more often what I’ve heard on the doorstep is people saying it must be really tough for the Prime Minister and praising her for her resilience and her sticking at it and trying to get through and trying to bring MPs together and do Brexit, that’s what I hear far more often than criticism.

SR: And do you think she needs to set out a clearer timetable now for her resignation?

HELEN WHATELY: I’m not sure that will be helpful. What matters is actually the timetable for doing Brexit, that’s the number one thing that people are concerned about when they talk about the national agenda and talking too much about the leadership, I see that is a distraction. People don’t want to see politicians talking about party politics and who’s in charge, they want to see Brexit and all the national things that we care about whether it’s the housing situation on the video that you showed earlier.

SR: What’s your view, there is soon to be a debate going on within the Conservative party about what the Conservative party should be, an existential debate – does it go down the David Cameron modernising wing, does it go back to what many would see as its more traditional roots and that many local councillors would prefer? Where are you on this debate?

HELEN WHATELY: This is a conversation I really welcome because the Conservative party is a broad church, we don’t all think the same things about everything, as has become quite clear in recent months and so to renew this conversation as we go through Brexit, what does Britain look like after Brexit, what sort of country do we want to be, I think that’s really, really important. I come from the modernising side of the party and I love it when we talk about things like this, I think public services is really important to talk about, my background was in healthcare so talking about the NHS, talking about education, I feel strongly about these but also talking about opportunities for regeneration and also making the case for the important role that businesses and entrepreneurs play in our society and actually giving the new generation opportunities and giving us a strong economy to fund the public services that we care so much about. This is the kind of conversation I want us to be able to have.

SR: Okay, a little bit earlier in the show we spoke to Ian Blackford of the SNP and he was explaining why he didn’t want to go to the state dinner that is going to be put on for Donald Trump. I just want to talk to you about it because you tweeted a picture a few years ago at Donald Trump’s inauguration, didn’t you? I don't know if you can see it. In a fetching hat.

HELEN WHATELY: Ah, that infamous picture yes.

SR: It got a bit of a response on social media and so what’s going on, are you a Trump fan?

HELEN WHATELY: Not particularly. I mean I was asked to go along to the inauguration as a Conservative party representative and I thought well, that would be an interesting thing to go along to and to see what the mood is in the US and actually to understand the reason why people voted for President Trump and that was really, really interesting. I was sitting at the inauguration next to people who voted for him and hearing how they voted for him because they felt that nobody was listening to them and it was their protest, it was their way of wanting to get heard. Trump is an individual I have mixed feelings about and I don’t like some of the things that he’s said but what I recognise overall is he is President of the United States of America and we have to recognise the importance of that office, the importance of America as the country that we have such a strong relationship with, security relationship, trade relationship and it is really important to have that good relationship. Also to have conversations about things we care about like climate change and try and influence President Trump to do his part in that.

SR: And you used to be a Conservative Party Vice-Chair for Women and this is a man who described women as fat pigs and dogs and is facing harassment allegations, is that where those mixed feelings come from?

HELEN WHATELY: I am still actively responsible for the women’s view so yes, I don’t like some of the stuff he said about women and I think that rhetoric plays a really, really unhelpful role, it is an attitude towards women that I have no support for so I don’t like hearing that and I want to continue in my role for women in my party and making sure that we go in the right direction on women, having more women stand for election for instance and I am continuing to do that in my new role as Deputy Chair.

SR: Okay, we’re out of time, Helen Whately thank you very much for being on the programme.