The dangers with a Tory policy blitz
Peter Hoskin 10:37am
Sounds like the Tories are going to go policy-heavy in the New Year. According to this morning's Times, Team Cameron are going to publish a "draft election manifesto" around 4 January, which will – as James revealed in his political column this week – set up a "policy-a-day blitz" throughout the rest of the month. There will also be a separate policy release "showcasing the party’s commitment to the NHS". The thinking is that all this will regain some momentum for the party, as well as answering the charge that the Tory operation lacks substance.
Question is: will it work? Well, we've often called for more detail from the Tory leadership – particularly when it comes to their deficit-reduction plans – so it would be wrong to dimiss the strategy out of hand. But there are a couple of very clear dangers with this Big Bang approach.
For starters, it could detract from the Tories' election campaign proper. The goal for every political party is to maximise voter enthusiasm just before the polling stations open. But setting out a draft manifesto, months before the actual manifesto, could give voters a swift case of Tory Policy Fatigue in March, May, or whenever. Of course, the Tories will hold some stuff back – but will it be enough to avoid anticlimax?
And then there's the danger that it could all come across a bit ... well ... bitty. The Tories' main presentational problem at the moment is that too few people understand what Cameron stands for; whether there's a "Cameronism" behind the man himself. To my mind, this isn't because the Tories lack substantive ideas – but rather because they haven't successfully communicated them.
The remedy for this needn't be a hundred-and-one policy announcements. No, far better a clear account of why, say, Tory school reform is the most impressive and potentially transformative policy package in town; or of why, behind all the high-falutin' talk of a "Post-Bureaucratic Age," there's a tidal shift in relations between the state and the public. Indeed, a raft of new policy announcements could just detract from this Bigger Picture stuff; adding more and more pieces to an, as yet, unfinished jigsaw.
Now, I'm not saying that this policy blitz will fall to these dangers – just that these dangers exist. The Tories will, of course, be hoping that it triggers enthusiasm, rather than fatigue; that it adds up to a more coherent picture of what Cameron stands for, rather than a more fractured one. And much of that will depend simply on what it contains and how it is framed. The proof of this particular pudding will be in the eating, next month.
Previous
Peter From Maidstone
December 19th, 2009 10:47am Report this commentIf you read the Times piece carefully it says that most of these policies have already been announced. Therefore there will be nothing much new to wait for. If they are not careful it will be another wasted opportunity. All Labour has to keep parroting is 'These are not new ideas, they have already been announced', and the whole exercise will be conuter-productive.
Billericay Dave
December 19th, 2009 11:07am Report this commentThey should wait till gormless sets a date for the election then go for it, no point saying things in Jan if the election isnt till May. They have to hurt Liebour in the elction run up not 4 months before.
Rossetti
December 19th, 2009 11:16am Report this commentCould someone please pass David Cameron a copy of Margaret Thatcher's 'The Path To Power'? All the language is there: this is a re-run of 1978-79 - the unions are raging, Labour is talking about class, the economy lies in ruins and the Tories need to stand for the aspirations of the lower-middle class, which are tax cuts, wealth in pockets not in taxes, a very slimmed down state, trim and efficient local government, a strong stance against the nanny state and welfare dependancy and a revolution in schools and hospitals to cut out waste and eradicate top-down government. Mr Cameron needs to be leading this vanguard and telling people that the Tories will cut taxes to put money in the pockets of aspirational Britons. Europe is an irrelevance to voters; focus upon hard cash being returned to enable a re-run of the enterprise economy in 2010.
Driving Home for Xmas
December 19th, 2009 11:17am Report this commentAnnouncing early is a good idea in principle - campaigns should always go early and define the debate as much as they can. Unfortunately, that's not what we're seeing here. A policy a day is ridiculous and will just ensure that no one in the public hears any of it at all. Can you imagine reading a story in 2008 saying that Obama's team were going to do a policy a day?
Rossetti
December 19th, 2009 11:22am Report this commentI forgot to mention: could someone in the Leader's Office please tell David Cameron to try to avoid appearing overly serious and reflective; it looks fake, and sometimes almost smug. More pics of David Cameron engaging with voters, please.
Michael Booth
December 19th, 2009 11:47am Report this commentbe still my beating heart.........
ajs
December 19th, 2009 12:11pm Report this commentYou Westminster Village types still don't understand that the "ordinary" voter has the attention span of a lemon, and votes with his bottom aka wallet rather than his brain.
Like Wellington and Nelson, hold your fire until the last sensible moment and then give 'em the broadsides and both barrels.
Peter From Maidstone
December 19th, 2009 12:27pm Report this commentajs, I agree in principle, but by then it will be far too late. The Conservative lead would be down to 5% and they would have the public perception of not being winners. The very best they could hope for would be a hung parliament.
Kepp the policies quite, but develop a narrative now! Where is the anger on our behalf, where is the demolition of this Government every day? None of it is happening. They are doing nothing and will lose by default.
Don't tell me how things will be different in detail, but for goodness sake tell me WHY I should vote for you. Not being Brown is not a good enough reason. Stalin was not Hitler but that would not have been a reason for voting for him rather than Hitler.
Dave B
December 19th, 2009 12:55pm Report this comment"To my mind, this isn't because the Tories lack substantive ideas – but rather because they haven't successfully communicated them. "
I agree with that. We used to hear the phrase 'giving people more power, and control over their lives' cropping up in Conservatives' speeches. Writing in Standpoint, Oliver Letwin came up with:
"...to strengthen society rather than the state; to give more power to the people through increased localisation, transparency, choice and accountability; and to encourage enterprise by liberating individuals, communities and businesses from the dead hand of excessive bureaucracy."
http://standpointmag.co.uk/node/2166/full
I think they'll get there. 'Power to the people.' 'Small government.' These are arguments we're familiar with. I think we'll recognise the message, whether or not the Conservatives come up with a popular new slogan.
John Moss
December 19th, 2009 1:11pm Report this commentI think a collation of policies is a good idea. We have made a number of announcements and there is a lot of "good stuff" in them, but they have not been hammered home, because we are still subjected to a Labour party driven, media narrative of "the tories don't have any policies".
Rather than be more bits of an incomplete jigsaw, this could very well demonstrate that there is a cohesive suite of policies across all fields of government, designed to move power away from the state and towards people.
I would simply hope that four or five key pledges are hammered in to every Conservative spokesman and repeated ad naeseum for the three, four or five months left before the election so we adhere to the maxim that when a politician is fed up of saying something, the public is just starting to hear it!
wonderfulforhisage
December 19th, 2009 1:18pm Report this commentCameron could sew the election up tomorrow if he announced that there would be an in/out of the EU referendum withing six months of the Tories being elected.
On second thoughts,nobody would believe him.
perdix
December 19th, 2009 1:51pm Report this commentApart from us obsessives on our computers very few of the electorate will know what the Tory policies are.It is therefore necessary to repeat that information several times until more people know what the Tories stand for.But it needs to be done carefully to avoid fatigue.
Dave B
December 19th, 2009 2:33pm Report this commentRe: fatigue
If May 6th is the most likely election date, then the election campaign kicks off early/mid April.
Surely the Conservatives can pace themed policy announcements for 12 weeks without boring us?
Neil Turner
December 19th, 2009 2:41pm Report this commentRossetti
I'm a voter an Europe isn't irrelevant to me.
The EU is at the root of most of issues we face right now
Vulture
December 19th, 2009 2:58pm Report this commentRossetti is half right. Correct that Cameron needs a few clear policies repeated ad nauseam until the thickest of voters, (ie. the majority) know that voting Tory will mean
1) Saving us from Liebour bankruptcy.
2)Rolling back the bullying nanny state.
3)Putting hard working and law abiding citizens before crooks, shysters,thugs and benefit cheats.
4) An end to waste, unwinnable wars, and unfettered immigration.
Will Dave do any of this? No chance. For two reasons: a) He's a guilt-ridden, rich splodge who only cares what his Guardian reading Snotting Hill neighbours will say.
2) (And this is where Rossetti goes wrong)
Our new masters in the EU won't let him.
Rossetti
December 19th, 2009 3:44pm Report this commentNeil Turner and Vulture
I am afraid that if you think Europe is of the slightest interest to the people who need to vote Tory rather than Labour in 2010 to secure a Cameron government, you are deluding yourselves. Such voters do not give a fig about European policies, despite their corrosive impact. The first task, surely, is to get a Tory government elected; high principles about the EU are, frankly, irrelevant this side of a general election.
strapworld
December 19th, 2009 4:01pm Report this commentRossetti asks "More pics of David Cameron engaging with voters, please."
Well in the newspapers today there is a delightful picture of Cameron being rather gallant towards his wife, allowing 'Samantha' to cover her hair from the snow as they arrived for a party with Mr and Mrs Freud (She is a Murdoch dont you know!) So he is truly mixing with the ordinary people.Tomorrow there will be a picture of them both arriving at another party in Leyton.E10! and on Monday he is touring Bolton, Burnley, Oldham and Blackburn to talk to local people. An interpreter will be in attendance (for the local people)
I will now Shut the front door, close the curtains, place more logs on the fire. Turn on the telly and the computer off and close ones mind to all matters politics.
A Merry Christmas to one and all and let us hope that 2010 brings our troops home from Afghanistan, The United Kingdom leaves the EU after a referendum, Schools are ordered to have Christian based morning assembly every day and the Union Flag to be raised as the pupils sing God Save the Queen at the end of the assembly. Shops are directed by legislation to close on Sunday's and people are encouraged to rediscover the Christian religion, and attend Church every Sunday. (Bishops and Archbishops will be elected by the people)Punishment will fit the crime and following a referendum the Death Penalty is restored for Murder, Drug Pushing and handling,and for MP's fiddling expenses!! Tony Blair is tried and convicted of War Crimes and treason and sentenced to death. So many people applied to be the executioner there will be a raffle to pick the winner! Gordon Brown returns to his beloved Scotland where he takes his knowledge on everything back to school, to become a teacher. Sadly he is sacked after one week for throwing his mobile phone at a pupil. He remains on the dole!
A Happy New Year to you all and thank you CoffeeHouse for your interesting posts.
np
December 19th, 2009 4:45pm Report this commentPlease, please , please. anything other than 5 more years of this Marxist dictatorship. I'm sick of this Scottish donkey grandstanding his apparatchik rhetoric, deluded he's a world leader.
Marcher Baron
December 19th, 2009 5:13pm Report this comment"Europe is an irrelevance to voters" Hardly, Rosetti - everything we do is governed by Europe from setting taxes to control of our borders. I'd hardly call that an "irrelevance" if we want to be able to run our own lives in future.
Jim Allen
December 19th, 2009 5:15pm Report this commentOne little problem - the sctosman has a majority in parliment - and the election does NOT have to happen in May 2010 he can put it off as it was in 1914 and 1939,40,41 etc he simply puts an act to parliment to put it off - or simply ammend the time under the vairous act snuck in under the radar of other legislation ....... odds please on mandy already has the document prepared..
TGF UKIP
December 19th, 2009 6:57pm Report this commentOh dear, haven't we been here before - yet another re-launch for jolly super wheezes from the Mekon, all designed to sell Dave to the Home Counties Waitrose shopper.
I'll bet Brown and Mandelson are looking forward to it like a slightly delayed but rather wonderful Christmas present.
JohnAnt
December 19th, 2009 7:23pm Report this comment"the party’s commitment to the NHS."
How about a commitment to reforming the bloody thing beyond recognition? It's broken - does he not notice?
Free at the point of use does not work in a society that encourages and subsidises immigration. The tax base to pay for it is withering.
Watt Tyler
December 19th, 2009 7:59pm Report this commentStrapworld - and a Merry Christmas to you.
Vettekulla
December 19th, 2009 8:55pm Report this commentThe UK has endured 12 years of daily policy announcements from the Blair/Brown administrations. Surely what is needed is a period of quiet, less policy, removal of past policy and low key, honest and efficient government.
Rhoda Klapp
December 19th, 2009 10:02pm Report this comment"Europe is an irrelevance to voters"
Other way round, I fear.
2trueblue
December 19th, 2009 11:47pm Report this commentCameron has to try and engage the public and show that MPs are living on the same planet as the rest of us. Cute soundbites will not do. We have suffered 13yrs of soundbites and no delivery.
The political elite do not get any of it, they can not just opt out from making reparation on the expenses issue. The whole thing is a real eye opener and I do not find the explanations of their misunderstandings unacceptable. Cameron could gain great support from the public if he shows real determination to clear up the mess. That will surley wrongfoot Labour.
Honesty is not difficult, show us you understand that and we might go the extra mile Cameron.
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