Like many of my colleagues, I joined the Conservatives because it offered people like me – a working-class boy from Essex – a message of hope and ambition. There was an optimism and belief in the future, regardless of one's wealth, faith, or background and in what can be achieved through the One Nation Conservatism that characterised Harold Macmillan's premiership.

I will not pretend we haven't failed to get that message across recently, and we were punished for it at the General Election. Although the prime minister's conference speech may, unfortunately, be remembered for the ‘noises off', the substantive announcements she made on things like housing, are a sign the Government is now serious about rekindling that commitment.