ConservativeHome contributors look forward to the week in Manchester. BRUCE ANDERSON: CAMERON NEEDS TO CONVINCE VOTERS THAT HE’S ON THEIR SIDEDavid Cameron has stamped his authority on Parliament and on the governing process. In the square mile around Whitehall and Westminster, he is in control, and recognised as such. In the rest of the country, […]
Former advisor to Margaret Thatcher, John O’Sullivan, has written a piece for The National Review about David Cameron’s Conservatives. He contends that a lack of policy seriousness explains the hesitant nature of Tory support: "Barring miracles, Cameron will be the next prime minister — handed victory by the sheer scale of Brown’s failure rather than […]
Just released by CCHQ and published in full below. In his message the Conservative leader promises that he won’t drop his green, social justice and international responsibility agendas but will "step up the pace" on them. He accuses Labour of losing its moral compass and of being "corrupted by power". Boris’ message is also pasted […]
Highlights, not verbatim: This government has been in power too long. His long list includes the Department of Transport initiative that spent more on an efficiency drive than was saved (link), Labour’s manipulation of knife crime statistics and a refusal to express regret over the arrest of Damian Green. A big choice now exists in […]
David Cameron was elected three years ago today, winning 67.6% of party members’ votes. He marks the anniversary by addressing a Conference of the Ulster Unionists. The Tory-UUP deal, overseen by Owen Paterson, is one of the high points of his leadership. Mr Cameron has consistently refused to take risks with the Union and has […]
‘What’s the mood of Conservative MPs?’ I asked a frontbencher last week. ‘Is it still tracking the opinion polls?’ ‘Oh no,’ he replied quickly, ‘It’s worst than that. It’s not all opinion polls; just the very latest one.’ I hope I’m wrong but it’s perfectly possible that there’ll be an opinion poll this time next […]
Last night’s Westminster Hour on Radio 4 became the latest mainstream media outlet to discuss ConservativeHome’s hares versus tortoises theory. The Times’ Danny Finkelstein (the newspaper columnist closest to the Osborne-Cameron circle) debated The Telegraph’s Iain Martin. It’s well worth a listen. Danny spent quite a bit of time knocking down straw men – the […]
Yesterday we noted the hare versus tortoise debate amongst Conservative strategists. Ben Brogan noted it on his blog and Steve Richards asks Ken Clarke about the tension for this weekend’s GMTV Sunday Programme. The former Chancellor manages to mangle the debate as being between a hare and a rabbit! Steve Richards: Can I finally ask […]
In a piece for today’s Telegraph Iain Martin urges David Cameron to be bolder. In The Spectator’s Politics column Fraser Nelson touches on similar themes – believing that Labour is exhausted and now is the time for the Tories to seize hold of the economic agenda. ‘How bold should the Tories be?’ is the big […]
Suggested next steps for the Conservatives are the focus of the main leader in today’s Telegraph. The leader begins by noting that the overall Tory position is strong: "The Conservative Party has registered a lead over Labour in 25 out of 27 opinion polls, with a margin ranging from three points to 13. In all […]
Interviewed by Andrew Marr this morning the Conservative leader said that Peter Hain cannot go on as yesterday – issuing a statement to the press and then scurrying away without answering questions. Mr Cameron said the Hain situation was another example of the Prime Minister dithering. Other highlights (not verbatim) of David Cameron’s interview: Labour […]
Yesterday was the second anniversary of David Cameron’s election as Conservative leader. Of those two years what would you choose as the high point and the low point? My own high point would be the whole emphasis on social justice (closely followed by last week’s Washington visit for the reasons explained here). The low point […]
That seems to be a question on the minds of many commentators at the moment. Peter Riddell noted yesterday that the Tories were still seeking the knockout blow. The topic is also on David Cameron’s mind. In a briefing to frontbenchers on Tuesday he said that he was working towards a 45% poll rating for […]
Sometimes it takes someone slightly distant from the day-to-day detail of a political situation to best understand the big picture. Reihan Salam, who I enjoy dinner with on every one of my regular Washington visits, has provided such a bird’s eye view of David Cameron’s Conservative Party for this week’s Weekly Standard. Reihan’s excellent piece […]
A week ago I spoke to North Shropshire Conservatives as the guest of Owen Paterson MP. It was my first attempt at a big picture overview of the political scene since Brown bottled out of an autumn election. The post below is a development and update of what I said. I’d be grateful for reactions… […]