I am not a fan of David Cameron, as every reader of this blog would know, but even so, I feel a measure of sympathy for the man who has been revealed by the latest ICM poll to be the least popular party leader.
For you see, David Cameron set much store by his image. He was the one who would, in that horrible expression, ‘decontaminate the Tory brand’. David Cameron was to be the saviour of the Conservative Party, the one who would make us seem like a decent party for whom normal people could vote without shame.
I suppose it worked for a time, as witnessed by the high poll ratings earlier in the year. But the honeymoon was only ever going to last so long, after which one would have expected the Party to have come up with enough goodies to retain the public’s interest. I think that that was where the whole thing fell apart. Indications that the David Cameron ‘brand’ had begun to lose its appeal were evident way back in the summer when the Conservative Party performed woefully in the Ealing South by-elections, despite labelling themselves on the ballot paper as ‘Cameron’s Conservatives’. That probably alerted David Cameron to the fact that time was perhaps ripe to change strategy.
It is good that the Party has moved on from parading David Cameron as its saviour - he is not. His main achievement was to convince the pubic to start listening to the Conservative Party once again. But that is only a good thing if the Party is saying things that the public want to hear. But is it? At a time when taxpayers are groaning under increasing levels of taxation, David Cameron’s party is debating whether to tax us even more. At a time when taxpayers’ funds are being heavily wasted by an incompetent Government, George Osborne is promising to stick to the Government’s spending levels. Is it therefore any wonder that, having briefly unstopped their ears to hear what the Conservative Party was saying, the public have concluded that not much of it is of any interest to them?
The Conservative Party is a great party, capable of doing much good if elected to serve. Its underlying principles of individual responsibility, low taxation and personal freedom, appeal across the board to many. However, for those members of the public who would have liked to hear more of the traditional Conservative message, there has been disappointment. The Party’s current leaders seem to have swallowed whole the erroneous doctrine that the traditional Conservative message is nasty, mean-spirited, and divisive. It is not. It is to David Cameron’s credit that he has made it possible for the Party to have a fair hearing, but now, he should be bolder. Not only must he restate the core principles that undergird the Conservative Party, he must consciously adopt policies that reflect these principles.
September 19th, 2007 at 10:10 pm
I think your last sentence kinda sums up th eproblem, it feels that cameron is trying to be electable, to be the heir aparent, after 10 yesrs of labour people see through that, and instead are looking for somebody that leads, somebody that passionatly believes in a view and pulls thier party together. To that extent gordon and even ming will always push david into third.
Maybe that was the whole point of margerets visit to no 10, you may not have agreed with her but it was hard not to respect her strength of will and single mindedness. she was something i suspect david will never be, a real leader of this country.
September 21st, 2007 at 7:18 am
David Cameron did indeed decontaminate our brand and did indeed make us worth listening to. The problem is that we now spend too much time trying to make people like us whereas the public have no need to like their leaders - they need simply to believe them, mostly agree with them and, maybe, respect them. ‘Like’ is unecessary.
Part of the reason we do not state too many specific policies is, I believe, the simple fear that, where possible, Labour may simply steal them. I hope earnestly that, come election time, the Party will hit hard with good, solid policy ideas that leave the government on the back-foot.
Fingers crossed…
September 21st, 2007 at 2:06 pm
I think you are unfair .The problems for the Conservatuve Party are a combination of the massive government payroll, mass immigration and counting Scottish seats in England when the Scots have local poltical arena now excluding the Conservative Party. There have been fiftenn years if growth ( the first five under Major ) and the BBC has unceasingly campaigned for the Faux -gressive agenda ever since Thatcher who it has demonsised.
Returning to core values will never win an election the 800,000 who swing it are centre Liberal minded folk who will be turned off by any such move. Cameron is going the right way and deserves better support than Weimarish whinging from a Party which lacks the will to win and the discipline to achieve it.
Never mind your principles Bel . Support the Party. Supprt Daid Cameron . Sae The Country, simple .
September 21st, 2007 at 2:37 pm
The problems for the Conservatuve Party are a combination of the massive government payroll, mass immigration and counting Scottish seats in England when the Scots have local poltical arena now excluding the Conservative Party.
True, Newmania, but these problems were still in existence at the beginning of the year when we had a massive poll lead. So the problems lie elsewhere as well.
Returning to core values will never win an election the 800,000 who swing it are centre Liberal minded folk who will be turned off by any such move.
I don’t see the Liberal minded folk, as you label them, rushing to the support of the party now, do you? People respect principles and conviction; perhaps we need to get those first.
Cameron is going the right way and deserves better support than Weimarish whinging from a Party which lacks the will to win and the discipline to achieve it.
Discipline? Don’t make me laugh. The lack of discipline is not just restricted to the ‘whingers’. Cameron and Osborne are hardly showing any discipline in their attitude to policy. Rushing out policy decisions just to grab headlines (they have done this in the past), displaying double-mindedness over serious issues. If this is discipline, then I am the king of Jordan.
Never mind your principles Bel . Support the Party.
Sorry sir. There may be a time in life when one’s principles may be sacrificed for the greater good. At such times, one must judge whether the sacrifice is worth it. My judgement is that the Conservative Party with its current leadership is not worth such a sacrifice on my part.
September 21st, 2007 at 5:04 pm
As a now floating voter (although formerly a Labour prospective councillor) I would like to make a couple of points.
1. Like Labour during the 1980s and early 90s the Conservatives are going to have to wait until the ‘People’ believe that Labour are not fit to govern before they get another chance. Elections are lost by the governing party and not won by the opposition in the majority of cases.
2. Cameron succeeding or failing in his reforms is more to do with the (passive) resistance from within his own party rather than public opinion at large. The Conservatives are by name and by nature not willing to change, especially and the grass roots level. Although he has not helped himselve by some of the recent fights he has picked re: Grammar Schools.
3. Brown has done a hell of a lot better than was expecteded during his honeymoon period. I like of guess that you will be hoping his honeymoon ends before the Election in May 2008!!!
September 21st, 2007 at 5:24 pm
Hi Richard, thanks for your comment. You raise some very interesting points:
1. Like Labour during the 1980s and early 90s the Conservatives are going to have to wait until the ‘People’ believe that Labour are not fit to govern before they get another chance.
I wuld submit that the people have already concluded that Labour is not fit to govern. I very rarely come across people with a good word to say about this Government. The problem seems to be that they see no alternative, and have therefore decided to stay with Gordon Brown on a ‘better the devil you know’ basis. The thing is, this Government is deeply unpopular, but survives as it does because the Opposition don’t inspire any confidence.
2. Cameron succeeding or failing in his reforms is more to do with the (passive) resistance from within his own party rather than public opinion at large.
The Conservative Party membership have actually given David Cameron a very fair hearing. The trouble only came when, instead of focusing on the Government, he started picking unnecessary fights with them, in a bid to show the public that ‘the Party has changed’. You are right; the grammar schools row was a stupid mistake. If he wanted to pick a fight with the party, he could have chosen another less contentious issue. Fact is, it is not only Tories who like grammar schools. Even parents of no political persuasion would like a good school for their children. That was the wrong issue on which to fight, and instead of realising that and humbly backing down, he started using words such as ‘delusional’.
3. Brown has done a hell of a lot better than was expected during his honeymoon period.
Yes, by doing nothing whatsoever.
I don’t blame him for that. I blame the craven, supine media who seem to have had total amnesia when it comes to the fact that Brown, as Chancellor of the Exchequer for the past ten years, has a direct hand in much of what ails society today.
September 21st, 2007 at 11:18 pm
these problems were still in existence at the beginning of the year .
Dear King Of Jordan
That was when Blair and Iraq were the opposition . I would love to know what exactly your problems with Cameron are .Margaret Thatcher promised to match Callaghan’s spending commitments , Blair( cough splutter) promised no tax rises. You have to read the runes a little more carefully . What do you imagine “Simplifying the taxation system ” means” . Have you any idea how much wiggle room there is in the nebulous rhetorical position ” Sharing the proceeds of growth” .I suspect that you enjoy your fascinatingly fragile Cassandra role , you know full well Brown is re animated cadaver playing the reformed Socialist with the convincing allure of a pig in lip stick, and yet you will not help. Were I to meet you in person bel you would be the recipient of a short speech containing words like .“disappointed” …” duty”…”responsibility”..”…”Gin and Tonic ?”…so trailing off at the end a bit but you get the idea.
How dare you suggest Brown has done nothing .By the application his magical Wellington boot he turned back the floods .! Clearly a new Moses.I so agree with you about the bizarre collective amnesia about this Warsaw opact relic.Lets do something about it and follow nice Mr. Churchill`s advice on “principles”
Women!