What is George Osborne building?

"We are the builders." We know that George Osborne is fond of appearing in a hi-vis jacket on a building site, he's fond of talking about infrastructure, he's fond of appearing to be a man of action, and making things happen.

But what he is trying to do is not just build roads and railways, but find a way to build a Conservative majority in 2020 and beyond.

The way he and David Cameron believe it can happen is by occupying as much of what they describe as the "common ground", to use their election victory to persuade millions of voters in the middle they are the sensible majority.

In his pitch to the conference Mr Osborne has made a pitch to the country, and explicitly to voters who might normally vote Labour who he says have been "completely abandoned" by Jeremy Corbyn's party. His challenge to Labour: "You listen to the few, we'll govern for the many."

Don't mistake how serious they are about using this moment to change the political landscape for years to come.

It is just as ambitious as Mr Osborne's radical policy to give local councils power over £26bn worth of business rates with power to cut and raise tax.

What's happening this week is part of what one member of the Cabinet described this morning as a real attempt to make the Tories "the natural party of government" again, permanently.

With Labour under a more left-wing leadership ministers believe this is a real chance to "take a bite" out of its vote for good, and make Conservative majorities not a surprise like it was this May, but the norm for years to come.