In his latest column, PopCon Director, Mark Littlewood, notes that in the Westminster village and amongst the media elite, the conventional wisdom is that elections are won from the "centre ground". But the truth is that they are won from the "common ground", which is a rather different thing.

We are now getting to the sharp end of the leadership contest. Getting that decision right and putting the party on a growth trajectory isn't just desirable, it's vital. After our drubbing on July 4th, the Conservative Party cannot afford many more missteps.

Thanks to all of our opinion panel members who contributed to our latest opinion panel survey, which was covered on GB News.

The standout finding was how many of you feel the party has drifted from its conservative roots, with around 50% of you believing that we have become a centrist or left of centre party. The new leader will need to embrace genuinely conservative values and articulate those beliefs with clarity, passion and conviction.

To win the next election, we are going to need not merely to appeal to a substantial chunk of the four million voters who voted for Reform, but also to persuade a large number of their activists to flock (or return) to our banner.

In the Westminster village and amongst the media elite, the conventional wisdom is that elections are won from the "centre ground". But the truth is that they are won from the "common ground", which is a rather different thing.

The common ground involves securing our borders, implementing a coherent and sensible immigration policy and removing power from a swathe of quangos and state bodies which have too much control over the lives of ordinary people and are presiding over a flatlining economy.

We have a packed programme of events at party conference and hope to be able to put forward a range of suggestions and ideas which can help rebuild the Conservative Party into a winning electoral machine. But the point isn't to win the next election for the sake of it, but because we have a serious plan to restore Parliamentary sovereignty and put Britain on a path to greater security, prosperity and growth.

Even if you don't like all of our answers, I hope you'll agree we are asking the right questions.

I look forward to catching up with many of you in Birmingham.

Keep the flag of freedom flying high