One of the charges most frequently levelled at the Tory shadow cabinet is that their commitment to the cause isn’t quite great enough; that they lack the same out-of-power-obsessiveness that drove New Labour between 1994 and 1997. Revelations about second jobs and the like have often made this argument quite persuasive. But Tory supporters can take heart today from the fact that most of the shadow cabinet is spread across the country, making the case for their party’s economic approach.
As Tim Montgomerie points out, this caps what has been – bar one or two caveats – an effective Tory performance over the Christmas and New Year break. The shadow cabinet seems to have achieved more meaningful media hits than their Labour counterparts; and, going off a striking insight from Tim, today’s countrywide tour should continue that run:
“When I worked at Conservative Central Office I remember a presentation when we were told that regional media was more trusted than national media, broadcast media was more impactful than print media and most trusted of all was third party media like the RSPB magazine.
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