Tim Montgomerie responds

Thanks Matt and for suggesting this exchange. But what’s this reference to “anarcho-syndicalism”?  Have you been to the Oliver Letwin school of political communication?

I agree with nearly all of what you write – particularly the fact that Conservatives cannot rely upon unhappiness with Labour to guarantee victory.  At the moment the Tories aren’t really enthusing people enough.  Watching BBC Parliament’s Bank Holiday rerun of the 1997 General Election (yes, aren’t I sad?) reminded me how the nation really bought into the promise of New Labour.  The electorate may be more cynical today because of the Blair decade of spin’n’squander but David Cameron needs to find a fifth gear at some point and communicate more passion.  At the moment he communicates reasonableness but I don’t think that that’ll be enough.  A very tough agenda on crime will probably be a vote maximiser at the next election.  We should copy some of Labour’s passion on crime but by promising to build, for example, on what Giuliani did in New York, and actually convince people that we have the ideas to deliver.

Read the rest here and click back later for Matthew d'Ancona's reply.