Explainer-in-brief: Housing is the new Europe in the Conservative Party
It was ardent Brexiteers who rumbled up enough angst to secure a referendum. But will pro-housing Conservatives have enough heft to stare down the Tory big wigs rebelling against housebuilding targets and planning reforms?
Priti Patel, the former Home Sec, Damien Green, former deputy PM to Theresa May and Iain Duncan Smith, the ex-Tory leader, are all part of a cohort of Conservatives mounting a fierce rebellion against the levelling up bill, which had been set to be voted on early next week.
There is hope for those who might actually want to build a home one day, with a younger group of Conservatives, including the former Levelling Up Secretary Simon Clarke, warning of an “intergenerational unfairness” when government fails to enable more homes to be built.
Michael Gove has promised to stand by his 300,000 homes a year pledge by the mid-2020s, though he has previously admitted it would be hard to reach.