Tories on tour

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.  I don’t know where the internet fits on the scale but today’s well-planned operation involving local journalists, business leaders and voluntary organisations will have a significant impact even if not noticed by the Westminster lobby.”

Aside from the media aspect of it all, there are other clear benefits from interacting more directly with voters.  It’s likely that there’s still a great deal of public confusion about the credit crunch, the recession and what’s in store for the country in 2009.  The party that can more successfully push its own, plain-English explanation for what’s going on stands to tap into a rich seam of political capital.