He may have been prime minister for a year, but his

speech to the Conservative Party conference in

Manchester felt almost like the moment Rishi Sunak
introduced himself for the first time.

A speech rich in announcements and packed with

messages about Rishi the man and his values.
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He and his team knew the speech would be critical to

resetting his stuttering leadership.

And you could see that in the overarching theme he

returned to throughout - whether it was his description of
his childhood, his political priorities or the sort of leader he
wants to be, the ultimate message was "take a look at me
again".

That theme is a tacit acknowledgement that after nearly a

year in office, working tirelessly hard, there has been very
little apparent change in the public's appetite for the
Conservative Party led by him.

This was the first, and perhaps the only chance, that Mr
Sunak will get to lay the foundations of his leadership
pitch before a general election.

The speech aimed to do three things: First, to define his

values and priorities of leadership. Second, to set out
priorities that support the assertion that he is willing to
take "tough decisions" in the country's long-term interests.
Third, to present himself as the 'change candidate' who
can take the fight to 'status quo' Labour.

By doing this, his close advisers hoped he would present

himself as a leader who wants to "do what works" and as
a traditional Conservative who wants to "make things
better for the next generation".

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He sought to project the values of common sense and

social conservatism - drawing parallels between himself
and Margaret Thatcher by painting the Conservatives as
the party of the "grocer's daughter and pharmacist's son".

At its root was the claim that he is the heir to Thatcher - a

leader who will "fundamentally change our country".

"Where a consensus is false, we will challenge it," he

said. "Where a vested interest is placing itself above the
needs of the people, we will stop it. And where common
sense is under attack from an organised assault, we will
defend it."

There was a triad of policies to back up this pitch: the

curtailing of HS2, an overhaul of further education and
a crackdown on smoking.

The PM confirmed he was scrapping the northern leg of

HS2, describing the rail project as "the ultimate example
of the old consensus" and sticking with a project even
when the "facts have changed". He insisted the £36bn of
funds freed up would be reinvested into other transport
projects.

On education, the PM promised radical reforms for 16-19-

year-olds, with a new "Advanced British Standard" that
would merge A-levels and the vocational T-levels into one
qualification. Students would have to study Maths and
English until they are 18 and study five subjects rather
than three.

And tacking back to social conservatism, the prime

minister also announced the legal age for smoking would
be raised by one year, every year so that a 14-year-old
would never legally be sold cigarettes.

What all these pledges had in common was their long-

term nature.

The smoking ban, which the government is expected to

introduce into the King's Speech later this year, will take
at least four years to implement, according to Number 10.

Read more:
Why some Tory MPs are worried their party is being
changed from within
All the reaction to the PM's decision to abandon HS2
plans
When could the next general election take place?

The education reforms, which the prime minister claimed

would be his top spending priority, will be a decade-long
project.

And the radical ripping up of HS2 and his new Northern

network transport plan is an endeavour that would run into
the coming decades.

The irony of all of this is that the politics of much of this

long-term agenda is based on short-term calculations.

On HS2, he's made a huge decision on a multi-decade

project, in part because it gives Labour a real headache.
Do they recommit the money and be framed by the Tories
as reckless spenders, or do they follow his lead, with all
the backlash that would bring?

What this shows is that, in reality, the speech was far less
about the actual policies and all about the politics of a
leader who wants to present as a change candidate and
paint his opponents as the party of the 'status quo' -
unwilling to go against the prevailing political consensus.

I do not need to tell you how hard it will be for Sunak to

pull this off. He is the leader of a party that has been in
government for 13 years and is hugely trailing in the
polls. But there are two things that explain the approach.

First, with a Conservative Party truly out of favour with the

public, this prime minister has to turn any campaign into
one centred on himself - a different kind of leader,
disassociated from the Conservative brand.

Second, he doesn't really have a choice. In a country

where voters seem desperate for change, he can hardly
pitch himself as a continuity candidate or run on a 'stick
with us' ticket.

It's an audacious approach, but what does he have to

lose? His party is massively behind in the polls and
already looking to who comes next.

If we learnt anything today, it was this: if Sunak is going

down, he intends to go down fighting.