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Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss take part in the BBC Leadership debate at Victoria Hall on July 25, 2022 in Hanley, England. Jacob King - WPA Pool/Getty Images

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(LifeSiteNews) — Over the next five weeks Conservative Party members in the U.K. will be compelled to make an unenviable choice as to who should be the next Conservative leader, and the U.K.’s Prime Minister.

A high tax and high spending ex-Chancellor or a former Liberal Democrat supporter who advocated for the abolition of the monarchy?

Fundamentally, both candidates sadly sum up the current problem with the 21st century Conservative Party.

For the Parliamentary Conservative Party (the MPs) have given members the choice of a) two uninspiring individuals and b) two people whose conservative credentials are extremely questionable (and that’s before we get onto social policy).

Rishi Sunak

Let’s first take Rishi Sunak, the former Chancellor who two years ago was loved by all. That popularity may have had something to do with all his financial handouts during the COVID-19 era. No one was too bothered about being paid to stay at home sunning themselves while the Bubonic plague raged in the street.

Fast forward and here we are, rampant inflation, energy bills soaring and the petrol price at the fuel pump eye-watering even for those with disposable income. And of course, we shouldn’t forget about that manifesto-breaking hike in our National Insurance.

Suddenly “Dishy Rishi,” as he was affectionately known by many members in the Conservative ranks, wasn’t quite so popular.

His star continued to fall in the wake of his wife’s tax dodging scandal and the fact that this wannabe U.K. Prime Minister was in possession of a U.S. Green Card until recently.

After stabbing current Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the front, and forcing his resignation, he has now positioned himself as heir apparent to Margaret Thatcher and Thatcherism. But then again, which Conservative leadership hopeful doesn’t?

READ: Boris Johnson quits as UK Prime Minister amid mounting scandals, including breaking his own COVID rules

Financial prudence, tackling illegal immigration, staying strong on China, have become the buzz words that characterize ‘Rishism.’

In truth, if Mr Sunak actually believed in a low-tax and low-spending economy, he’d have resigned long ago. Remember Sajid Javid, his predecessor in the Treasury, quit in February 2020, before COVID arrived, because he would not spend the sort of money which Boris wanted him to. There was a man with more principles than Rishi, but Sajid did not have enough parliamentary friends to make it through.

Yes, Rishi does nice videos.

Yes, he says the right things – “importance of family,” “Conservative values that are core to who I am” – but can anyone believe what he says? Actions, more so with politicians than anyone else, speak louder than words. And Mr. Sunak’s actions have so far been to spend the family silver and then some. He has bankrupted this country and now claims to be the one who can fix it.

True, Rishi did campaign for Leave in the E.U. referendum but his many critics argue that he is a member of the globalist elite. Who knows?

In his final years at school, Rishi wrote an article where he described how New Labour’s monetary policy would be good for this country.

One wonders whether he ever lost those New Labour leanings?

Liz Truss

Liz Truss’s popularity has never hit the heights of her rival and you can see why. She was Foreign Secretary when COVID hit so couldn’t quite give as many state handouts as Rishi, but neither does she have his charisma or charm. In fact, Liz Truss could well be Theresa May version 2.0… and we know how well that ended.

Liz’s mother was a member for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, not a good start for the party that is supposed to be strong on defence of the realm.

Liz herself was a member of the Liberal Democrats until she joined the Conservative Party in 1996. During her time in the Lib Dems she campaigned for legalisation of cannabis and for referenda on major constitutional questions.

Yes, I understand we can all have our ‘Road to Damascus’ moment, but politicians aren’t famous for conversions in political beliefs, just a momentary pause or lapse to win favour and greater offices of state.

I would be fascinated to ask Ms. Truss why she chose to switch allegiances.

Liz’s Conservativism took another battering when she opted to campaign for Remain but has since said it was a mistake. However in fairness, according to insiders, she has fought hard to not sell Northern Ireland out over the protocol.

Truss has also tried to morph into the modern-day Thatcher (and that is just her Instagram page). She has promised to cut taxes, scrap green levies and lift the ban on grammar schools.

Conservative voters left without Conservatives to elect

The difficulty for members like me is to what extent do you believe that either Sunak or Truss are telling the truth and will actually implement the ‘conservative’ proposals which they have advocated to date?

The underlying issue is this: Conservative members are more Conservative than the MPs they elect and the leaders they choose. The reason that Conservative Governments win elections is because the British public want Conservative policies.

When the Conservative and Labour parties become so indistinct from each other, the British people end up voting for Labour to remind the Conservatives of what they should be standing for.

READ: UK Supreme Court refuses extra time to parents seeking UN intervention for 12-year-old on life support

In opposition the Conservatives find their Conservative values, but pander to the liberal and woke brigade once they are elected to office.

We all remember how David Cameron tried to be the ‘model’ Conservative – only to disappoint great swathes of the Conservative membership by legalizing so-called ‘Same-Sex Marriage.’

Theresa May talked hard on Brexit, vowing that she would implement the will of the British people. But she turned out to be a reluctant Leaver who did her best to leave Europe in name only.

Boris Johnson had an opportunity to shape a truly Conservative country with his large majority in Parliament, but ruled as a neo-socialist, which ironically caused his downfall. Had he followed his publicized libertarian spirit and ignored the shouts of the media, he would have avoided the COVID-19 lockdowns and the subsequent fines for the Downing Street shenanigans.

I know a lot of people who want to ‘Bring Back Boris’ but he was sadly not a Conservative either: he imposed abortion in Northern Ireland; limited powers to protest; embraced the globalist Net Zero agenda; undermined home-schooling parents; and oversaw the extension of the state to unprecedented new levels.

I have been anti-Boris for close to two years now and I believe a change of leader was necessary to trigger a conservative renaissance.

Sadly, I do not think either Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss will herald a new age of Conservatism.

But it could have been far worse.

But for a couple of MPs voting a different way, International Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt would now be on the cusp of becoming Prime Minister.

This is a woman who changed the wording of a bill from “pregnant woman” to “pregnant person.” Her views on transgender rights would have moved the Conservative Party to the centre-left forever. She supported abortion in Northern Ireland and did not vote on the Assisted Dying bill from 2015.

I know that Rishi’s and Liz’s voting records on social issues are far from perfect, but a Penny Mordaunt premiership would have been terrible news for social conservatives in the U.K.

I supported Kemi Badenoch in the leadership campaign, and she is hugely popular amongst the Conservative membership. This is because she articulated actual Conservative arguments and her voting record is pretty strong too. Presumably, that is why the MPs did not allow her to progress to the final two, for fear of her being an actual Conservative Prime Minister.

Next time for Kemi, maybe.

As is the case with many things in politics, you end up voting for the least worst option. That is why I am a Conservative member (and voter). Yes, we are not great on social issues, and I see us as being three steps behind the Labour Party on many of them. But those three steps are critical in my eyes. Labour are pro-trans rights, pro-abortion, pro-everything woke and anti-family. As a Catholic I am unable to vote for them and I won’t. A Labour Government will never restore family values or outlaw abortion.

So I will be voting for Liz Truss and I think you know why. I do believe in conversions, and I live more in hope than anything else that she has had one. I think she will be more conservative than Rishi Sunak and I believe she has a greater chance of keeping Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and his woke brigade out of 10 Downing Street.

Time will tell but Boris Johnson was not the answer to the Conservative question.

It might be Truss, but we must hope that the Conservatives will one day pick a true Conservative so we can have our own Conservative renaissance.

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