A leader in today’s Guardian is another entry for the Cameroons’ list of non-electoral milestones. Entitled “Progress in Blue”, its case seems to be that the Tories are pushing the kind of progressive agenda that Guardian readers should consider voting for. Here’s the nub of it:
“There have been moments in the postwar history of Britain when people who would naturally be inclined to vote Labour have been driven to ask themselves whether the return of a Conservative government would be the worst possible outcome for the country or for the general cause of progress? For those in Britain who think of themselves as progressives, the answer has usually been an unhesitating yes. Nevertheless there is a reasonable and sober body of historical work which reaches the judgment that there have, indeed, been times when Labour has deserved to lose.
We may be approaching another moment for difficult questions. As this week’s Guardian series on the Conservative party, three years after David Cameron became its leader, has shown, Conservatives are once again making a pitch for the progressive vote…”
I’m sure Team Cameron will be delighted with the notice. If nothing else, it suggests that they appeal to a wide coalition of voters. But – as Mike Smithson points out over at Political Betting – not every Tory will share in that delight. There are those for whom anything like a Guardian endorsement is anathema. And whilst today’s editorial most likely won’t provoke them into action, it will certainly cause them to view the party leadership with even more suspicion.
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