In her first Conservative Party conference speech as prime minister, Theresa May continued David Cameron's project of trying to seize the centre ground, and made a pitch for Tories being, among other things, 'the party of the NHS, the party of the workers, the party of public servants'.
The prime minister accepted the need to 'take big, sometimes even controversial, decisions about our country's infrastructure', adding this is 'why we will press ahead with plans for High Speed 2' and why the Government gave the green light to Hinkley Point.
However the public will have to wait a little longer for the long-awaited decision on expanding Britain's airport capacity as the prime minister said a decision would come 'shortly'.
Her speech, which made more positive gestures towards the previous administration than some might have expected, included a passage of warm praise for David Cameron and gratitude to George Osborne for the Northern Powerhouse.
In a strong nod to the importance of devolution and regional economies, Ms May said: 'Thanks to George Osborne's Northern Powerhouse, over the past year, foreign direct investment in the North has increased at double the rate of the rest of the country.
'Here in Birmingham, thanks to the incredible Jaguar Land Rover, the West Midlands is the only part of the country to run a trade surplus with China. And across the region, the Midlands Engine is on track to deliver 300,000 more jobs by 2020.
'Now it's time to build on that success in Birmingham and Manchester and in other cities across the country.'
Under her headline message of building an 'economy that works for everyone' she highlighted engineering and infrastructure as key sectors for development.
'It's about identifying the industries that are of strategic value to our economy and supporting and promoting them through policies on trade, tax, infrastructure, skills, training, and research and development.
'So we will identify the sectors of the economy; financial services, yes, but life sciences, tech, aerospace, car manufacturing, the creative industries and many others; that are of strategic importance to our economy, and do everything we can to encourage, develop and support them.'
She added that 'where consumer choice is inhibited by deliberately complex pricing structures, we must set the market right'. Many have argued in recent years the rail industry is one area that this applies.
In reaction to the speech, Green Party MP Caroline Lucas tweeted: 'Theresa_may's big decisions: Hinkley, HS2 & airport expansion are overpriced diversions from the infrastructure we really need.'
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