1. Navel-gazing and self-flagellation - step forward Theresa May, Michael Portillo and a dishonourable mention to David Cameron (Every morning I think about how the party needs to change)
2. Michael Howard appointing Lynton Crosby and only allowing two or three Tories on TV in the run-up to the 2005 election - this was an election we could have won, but lost because the message was wrong and the leader was a control freak
3. William Hague's PR gaffes - The guy is a legend, but the Tory-Boy speech, Notting Hill baseball cap, the 14 pints and the flag-wrapping shaped his public image
4. DC postponing the mayoral nominations - kick in the groin for electoral fairplay
5. MH dumping Howard Flight for talking about tax cuts - I've heard of party discipline but that was ridiculous.
And on a policy note, failure to set out clear vision on education, health, law and order or the economy. The mood music needs to stop soon!!!
Over to you
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Patience, patience, patience, the policy is coming. Every now and again I meet up with a Shadow Minister or their cohorts and they reassure me it is being prepared, it cannot be rushed. Would you be interested in contributing any views on their forums? Any one area in particular?
I agree that Lynton Crosby didn't get it right, the Austrian electorate is totally different to the Brits. There is an article on the STelegraph by him today outlining why Michael Howard is so successful in Australia 10 years on, a man who seeminly is not charasmatic, but is tough on important issues.
6. Grotty Europhile MEPs and Timothy Kirkhope removing the whip from Roger Helmer in the European Parliament - which consequently means he will now be barred from standing as a Conservative candidate at the next EU elections in 2009.
7. Fighting openly and publically amongst one another.
John Howard is an example of why it is more important to be respected than liked.
Ellie - thanks for the reassurance. I understand the concept of keeping powder dry but sometimes I don't even know what direction the leadership is heading. Law and order (esp policing) is a policy area that interests me and should be an open goal electorally. Also, we should be talking about what areas of government we abolish/simplify so that we can put a dollar figure on spending cuts. Come the next election, I think the public will have an appetite for leaner gov't.
It's important we get the policies right, so I'm not averse to our taking time over formulation. Labour spent ages formulating policy before the 1997 election, and their leadership was the subject of similar criticism from the student Left. They then came out with some well-presented policies (remember 'Income Tax rates will not rise?') before the election and won.
The electorate doesn't seriously look at specific party policies until around election time. We've lost three elections in a row and we shouldn't be afraid to take some time to get it right.
A little self-flagellation is a good thing following three election defeats. However, it's difficult to imagine any Conservative policies that would have won them the 2001 General election as Tony Blair was such an electoral asset to the Labour Party back then.
The Conservative Party appears to have had a genuine chance of victory in 2005 but their policies were weak. Tax cuts were not aggressive enough and the manifesto was weakness personified. Who gets excited by slogans such as "Cleaner hospitals"? It's hardly a reason to rush out and vote Conservative!
Post a Comment