Ask John Rentoul anything about Tory Party conference revelations – from HS2 to smoking bans

The Independent’s chief political commentator John Rentoul will be taking your questions on the fallout from the Conservative Party conference

Rishi Sunak used his first Conservative conference speech as party leader to set out his vision for the country (Getty)

Rishi Sunak used his first Conservative conference speech as party leader to set out his vision for the country – with HS2, smoking, vapes, A-levels and benefits all on the agenda.

On Wednesday, he made a raft of announcements, including a smoking ban for future generations, reforms to A-levels and scrapping the northern leg of HS2 in favour of hundreds of new transport projects in the North and Midlands.

It came after a trying conference for Mr Sunak, who was hoping to brush off days of party infighting and speculation about the future of HS2 with a pitch to fix Britain’s “broken” politics.

And HS2 hasn’t been the only dividing issue for the party. The conference also saw Suella Braverman use her speech to warn of a “hurricane” of migrants, comments which caused unease among some senior Conservatives and more widely across the political spectrum.

The previous day, Mr Sunak’s predecessor Liz Truss drew big crowds as she demanded immediate tax cuts to “make Britain grow again”, a year after she left office after a chaotic 49 days.

What has the conference taught us about the current state of the Conservative Party? What do the prime minister’s plans mean for the future of Tories? And what does the apparent divide in the party mean as we close in on the next general election?

If you have a question about any of the revelations from the Tory Party conference, submit it now, or when I join you live at 2pm on Thursday 5 October for the “Ask Me Anything” event.

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