With the election speculation mounting, two points in Iain Martin’s Telegraph article today are worth bearing in mind. The first is that Tories have penciled in 26th February as a potential snap election date. The second is that we’ve never really seen Gordon Brown doing the whole frontline campaigning thing – something that may be either a symptom or a cause of any reluctance he may have to go to the polls. As Iain writes:
Although there’s been some murmuring that Cameron is overdoing things with a spate of recent speeches, there’s little doubt that the meet ‘n’ greet frenzy of an election campaign would play to the Tory leader’s strengths, while exposing some of Brown’s weaknesses. The false Labour dichotomy between a “slick PR man” and “serious people” is partially devised to counter that. But the worry for Brown is that that will itself be undermined by the worsening economic trends in the New Year.“It is hard to envisage the country, confronted by Brown each day during a contest, growing to like him more. The format of an election campaign will suit Cameron’s style because the “toff” has form in winning personal mandates. In 2005, he did what Brown dodged, standing for the leadership of his party – initially as the outsider – and winning.”
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