Much hilarity among those of a leftish persuasion in Westminster that the Conservatives might dare call themselves the Workers’ Party, as Grant Shapps enthusiastically did yesterday. Mind you, when Shapps gave his speech making this claim alongside Sir John Major yesterday, journalists were excluded, so he might not have said it at all.
But assuming he did, there’s no reason why the Conservatives should provoke any more hilarity than any other Westminster party when they make this claim. There are, though, two warnings that if not heeded, could make this new tag seem as hilarious to voters as previous attempts at rebranding.
The first comes from David Skelton, whose campaign Renewal is pushing for the Tories to do more to appeal to working class voters. He argues today that any attempt by Conservative MPs to pursue an electoral pact with Ukip would undermine that Workers’ Party tag, and seriously damage the purchase that the Conservatives have with BME voters.
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