With the party riven by factions and differences on policy, the prime minister has a job on his hands trying to find a coherent way forward

Before what could well be the last Conservative party conference before the next election, more than one MP reflected on the state of the party by invoking the infamous jewellery mogul famed for mocking his own products and torpedoing his brand.

“It’s been like Gerald Ratner saying his products were crap and then wondering why nobody bought them,” said one MP, assessing the various criticisms being made of the government by its own MPs. “That seems to be what’s going on with our offer to voters. It’s almost like we’ve become a sort of protest movement masquerading as a government.”