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i am beginning to feel sorry for david cameron.
there he is trying hard to make the conservative party electable again, trying to get them to be the party of the centre ground, a small patch of the political landscape that during the blair years moved ever rightwards as he consistently marginalised the moderate tories by forcing the tory party to move ever more rightwards.
yet cameron has moderated their tone, he has made them appear compassionate and caring, under cameron they have been incredibly successful in the local elections.
yet some how it isn’t enough, the poor man must be wondering what he has to do.

bruce anderson describes it nicely thus: “they are willing to be led, in the way that henry viii was willing to be married.”

because the conservatives are behind in the polls, thanks in part to the “brown bounce” some of the more vocal tory rank and file are calling for the head of cameron.
it is that calm, clear headedness that endears them to the country. it is that steadfast loyalty that reminds us that we can trust tory promises.

graham brady describes cameron’s policies as "… not been making the same impact further away from london - in the north, in the midlands, in places which really are an absolutely key electoral battlefield if we're going to win a general election.” which does seem to fly in the face of the local election results – but why let the fact that 165 local councils are now tory controlled, a gain of 39 councils and over 900 councillors. for most people that would be evidence that cameron’s compassionate conservatism is getting converts, but to brady it is just more evidence that cameron just appeals to the metropolitan liberal elite – such as the thriving mertropoles of the cotswolds and norfolk.
(one can only assume that for people like brady the middle england of the tories are all living in the shires and hold somewhat bigoted and blinkered views. could that be why david cameron is trying to appeal to another group of people? i think it might be).

cameron instigates wide ranging policy reviews in order to sensibly develop policies that will allow him to present the conservatives as more than a party for the rich. “breakdown britian” (chaired by iain duncan smith) is hailed as a great piece of work (ok the fact the solution to every problem under the sun appears to be marriage is neither here nor there, i suspect fairly soon ids will publish a follow up claiming that regions who suffered from the floods were areas where there were too few married couples!)
the other reports are all due to be published shortly.
even so cameron is described as someone who is about smoke and mirrors, all gimmicks and no substance.
"i'm disillusioned because i think substance has been replaced by pr.
"what i'm asking for is some substance and some credibility and not box-ticking and gimmickry. “says ali miraj.
saatchi and stuart wheeler, a major tory donor, chip in with it should be about the economy, i.e. tax cuts, and being tougher on europe.
while everyone thought that under gordon brown we would get more of the same, we have all been surprised by some of the policy changes and announcements brown has made.
cameron was hoping to be in a position to relaunch the conservative party, as a party of the future, but he is being forced to fight the old internal battles once more.
proving once again it is very much new tory, old story.