A freewheeling, shirt-sleeve kind of speech from Cameron in Kennington this morning. But
not one that was without substance. His main purpose was, as he put it, to “redouble the positive” – which meant more about the Big Society. Cameron has fashioned a persuasive narrative
out of this, but question marks still remain over whether it will mean much to voters who just want CHANGE, without the nuance and jargon. As I suggested earlier, this is perhaps the biggest question hanging over the election campaign
right now.
The other part to Cameron’s speech was a warning about a hung parliament. Or as he put it: “If we get any other result, then we could be stuck with the problems we’ve got now.” I lost count of how many times he used the word “decisive” as part of this. “We need decisive leadership … decisive government … only a decisive Conservative win,” etc. You can see why he’s making this point, and there’s a good slug of truth to it. But, again, the question is whether people will listen. Or will they just see it as the self- interest of a traditional politician.
So, some answers from the Tories today – but two questions over which, really, they have only a marginal degree of control. Public, it’s over to you.
Comments