A forest of robots and monotone voices where everybody risks sounding the same

PRIME Minister Rishi Sunak was not alone in making a dismal speech to the Conservative Party conference this week. At least he was not greeted by rows of empty chairs, the fate suffered by some of his colleagues.

But what is always striking at this time of year is how many of the apparently elite politicians who govern the country – or seek to govern the country ­– are simply unable to deliver a rousing speech, or speak with conviction.

There isn’t a single front bencher or MP on either side of the Commons equipped with a turn of phrase, the delivery of a smart quip or, even more importantly, the simple clarity to lay out a path to better days in a way which is understandable to all.

Each year we see sycophants in the conference arenas applaud whichever nasal voice is leading their party but none of them are clapping for the skilled oratory.

People may say that it doesn’t matter how a politician says what they say, it’s about the substance of their speeches.

Yet all through time, it is the persuasive storytellers who build the alliances and support needed for meaningful reform. They are the ones who capture the imagination.

The challenge is to name a single frontline UK politician capable of delivering a speech that will be looked back on as an indelible memory for the history books. Please, do send suggestions for anybody we have overlooked.

In this forest of robots and monotone voices where everybody risks sounding the same, the parties have sadly allowed Nigel Farage to look like a master of communication.

His views will be abhorrent in Camden where so many voted to remain in the European Union and doors are opened to refugees.

But his relaxed, assured belief in himself and what he is saying will be a powerful sway for restless heads drifting on the right and in need of a charismatic guru should Labour win the next election.

It was happening in front of the Tories’ own eyes in Manchester this week, as Farage helped drag the agenda his way while laughing along for selfies.

There are Tories reading his manual but lacking the same skill set, noticeably wilting in television interviews as they tried to explain why they were inventing Labour policies such as a meat tax and restrictions on when you can go shopping.

It’s within this struggle to articulate a message that politicians become guided less by heart, more by pre-programmed algorithm – stealing into your internet feeds with the trigger topics of trans rights, net-zero climate change measures and multiculturalism. They are subjects where careless language only deepens divisions between us.