Conservative MP James Cleverly: Strong and stable was like calling a Volvo ‘sleek and sexy’ A Conservative rising star has compared Theresa May’s “strong and stable” slogan to calling a Volvo car “sleek and sexy”. […]

A Conservative rising star has compared Theresa May’s “strong and stable” slogan to calling a Volvo car “sleek and sexy”.

Braintree MP James Cleverly, a prominent Eurosceptic, told an audience at the Kings Place Politics Festival that “buzzwords” only work “when they match the product”. An audience member had said Theresa May’s repeated slogans – including her mantra of “strong and stable leadership” – had provoked him to vote Labour earlier this month.

Mr Cleverly said: “If I’m pointing at a Volvo saying ‘sleek and sexy’, it doesn’t work. If I’m pointing to a Ferrari and saying ‘sleek and sexy’, it does work.”

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The audience member said he feared David Davis would deploy the tactic of deploying such phrases in Brexit negotiations. He pleaded with the Tories to learn from its bruising election campaign experience. But Mr Cleverly added: “If you get the thread right, it works. If it’s broken, it doesn’t work… it was broken at this election.”

Not worth joining

Mr Cleverly, who has been tipped as a future Conservative leader, also admitted Labour was more effective at mobilising supporters. He said Conservatives gained little benefit from membership of the party. “If I wasn’t a Conservative MP I’d be asking myself if it was worth being a member,” he said.

He also said the Conservatives must prioritise combating the “stratification of Britain” and give people the opportunity to better themselves. “If we don’t come up with an answer for that, we will get beaten and we’ll deserve to be beaten,” he said.

Broken social contract

Former education secretary Nicky Morgan said a “broken social contract” had resulted in the younger generation having little hope of doing better than their parents. “I think a word we don’t hear enough in Conservative circles is aspiration,” she said.

Ms Morgan campaigned for Britain to stay in the EU. But she said: “I can’t think of an event that has been more divisive [than the referendum], and I’ve been in the Conservative party 29 years.

“We banned it as a topic at Christmas lunch because it was too divisive.”