Shadow cabinet questions Cameron's strategy after poll reveals voters are rejecting party
It appears that David Cameron's honeymoon period with his own party is over now that Gordon Brown has taken Labour through that symbolic 40% barrier in the opinion polls for the first time in two years. The word on the street is that the Tory shadow cabinet are unhappy with the recent results of by-elections for two seats in which the Tories came third in both.
On current opinion polls Gordon Brown's Labour Party now have a six point lead over the Tories. Quite an astonishing figure for a party that has been ten years in power and has waged a massively unpopular war in Iraq. It would appear that Cameron's Tories have greatly underestimated the power of Brown to create a "new" government. The Tories have for the past few months been emphasising how Brown was part of the government for the past ten years and how only they could give the change that Britain needed. It would now appear as if the flurry of changes Brown made to his cabinet when he took office - and the tweaks he has made to policy - have been enough to convince the public that a new broom has swept through Downing Street.
This leaves Cameron dangerously exposed. He is already operating a "Hug a Hoodie" social policy that his party neither likes nor understands, but I suspect they were ready to thole it as long as it promised a return to power. With recent by-elections results placing the Tories in third place, there will be many in the Conservative Party who are asking what Cameron is for? Why is he leading us and where is he leading us to?
Cameron is ploughing on with his visit to the Rwandan capital Kigali, another attempt to show the new face of the caring-sharing Tory party, but one can't help feeling that - admirable as all this may be - he really is leading this party down a road which they do not want to travel. The old biddies who support the Tories are happiest when they are discussing immigration, why gays disgust them, and tax cuts. Cameron has them talking about global warming, the environment, and the plight of Africa. They are not happy bunnies.There were also reports last night that up to two Conservative MPs have signed letters expressing no confidence in Cameron's leadership. These are understood to have been deposited with Sir Michael Spicer, chairman of the backbench 1922 committee.
The Ealing Southall result came as a particular blow to Cameron because the Tory leader visited the constituency five times during the campaign. Ballot papers were also marked with 'David Cameron's Conservatives'.
This was strongly criticised by senior Tories. 'It is astonishing that ballot papers were marked with David Cameron's Conservatives,' one said. 'That was a silly mistake.'
In an ominous sign for Cameron, some senior frontbenchers are voicing criticisms about the leader's entire strategy. One said that Cameron was proving no match for Brown in the Commons, even though the Tory leader's polished performances have prompted opponents to award him a victory on points.
'All that matters is the 17 seconds that appear on television,' the senior frontbencher said. 'When people see Brown they will think one word: serious.'
They say a week is a long time in politics and that has never been truer than of this week. Cameron, who for so long has looked like the Tory Party's answer to Blair, now resembles nothing so much as Iain Duncan Smith before the Tory's ditched him.'This is when the modernising approach is tested,' a senior Cameron ally told The Observer. 'Normally at this time we retreat to our comfort zone and talk about immigration... This is the moment to hold our nerve.'
But one senior Tory voiced strong criticism of the policy commissions: 'Having lots of policies is no good if you do not have the philosophy to underpin that. If we can't answer "Where do you want to go?", then the policy means nothing. We have been weak on that.'
Brown has succeeded in making him look light and inconsequential. And the more he attempts to lead his party down a path which they do not want to travel, the further into IDS territory he treads.
He's hanging over the cliff by a thread. And all that has happened in a single week. Funny old game politics.
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2 comments:
I think talk total disaster is premature.
Yes the honeymoon period is over, but Brown's is now in full swing. Only when Brown's is over too can we make a real judgement.
I agree, but my main point is that Brown makes Cameron look weak, and Cameron I think was a perfect foil for Blair, he's not looking good against Brown. Maybe you're right, perhaps it's part of Brown's honeymoon, although it looks more fundamental to me.
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