It is conventional wisdom that David Cameron won’t get much of an electoral bounce from the Libya intervention, despite emerging as a bold and competent interventionist. People, the argument goes, are tired of warfare. A senior figure in Tony Blair’s No 10 told me yesterday that he did not think the PM would earn a lot of kudos, because with all the problems at home there is less tolerance for overseas adventurism.
But this narrative overlooks a number of key points. First, the success of the operation has dealt with the charge that the government is less competent than it pretended to be. This was a serious charge, as the Prime Minister (and by extension the Conservative party) cannot withstand being called incompetent. Second, William Hague has recovered his “mojo”, which is important to the government because of his high public profile.
The third positive outcome for Cameron comes at Labour’s expense. Labour supported the conflict and the government’s aim, but it failed to deliver a detailed criticism of the drawn out execution. This makes Cameron look all the more decisive.
As he tours Libya with his French brother-in-arms, David Cameron has every reason to be happy with his decision to save the Libyan people and voters may yet reward him.
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