Blogs and Briefings
Lacking fizz?
Connect consultant and Conservative councillor Andrew Smith reports on a somber mood at the Party’s gathering in Manchester
4 October
The Conservatives' self-imposed 'champagne ban' aptly sums up the mood of this week’s Party Conference. Despite the success of its first year in office, the Party feels there is little to celebrate. The growing crisis in the eurozone is looming in Manchester as fear grows that the UK is to be stuck in a period of zero growth for a significant period. Rather than fighting the next election with the background of economic recovery firmly entrenched, the Party leadership are increasingly aware that their might be little positive economic news between now and 2015.
Fears about the speed of the recovery and frustration at what they see as Liberal Democrat intransigence preventing action on issues dear to their hearts such as the Human Rights Act and a reassessment of the UKs relationship with the European Union, mean that activists are in a somber mood.
The person who has cheered up Conservative conference goers the most is the Labour leader, Ed Miliband. Conservative strategists hope that his failure last week to position himself or his party as offering a coherent alternative to the Coalition's economic policy means that a Conservative victory is possible at the next election despite continuing economic woes. In his speech on Wednesday, David Cameron will seek to contrast his leadership qualities with Miliband's and set the likely narrative for the next election that Cameron is the leader that can be trusted to see the country though difficult times.
The Party knows that, despite Labour's weakness, they are vulnerable on a number of fronts. Not being Gordon Brown was not enough to deliver a clear victory at the last election, not being Ed Miliband will not be enough to win next time. This week the Party is looking for the leadership to deliver a clear narrative on the Government's plan for economic recovery, on the encouragement of aspiration and helping the struggling 'squeezed middle'.
The concerns voiced by Andrew Tyrie, the Chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, at the lack of a clear vision on growth are shared by many in the party. However, George Osborne's speech yesterday went at least someway to developing a clear narrative on growth. He made it clear that the Government will not waver from the policy of deficit reduction and, whilst he will dismiss the siren voices calling for him to abandon his fiscally conservative approach by allowing public spending to rise or by offering tax cuts, he took the need for government action to deliver growth seriously.
It will have disappointed those calling for radical action, but Osborne’s speech did contain a number of important measures to boost growth by injecting credit into the economy and reducing bureaucratic burdens. Most significantly, the speech signalled a change of emphasis on the environment, with a greater focus on maintaining the UKs competitiveness rather than leading the pack on emissions reductions. Will this be the start of a period of more radical action to lift burdens on business and a potential new area of tension between the coalition parties?
In addition to Osborne's signals of a new radicalism on growth, the Party is seeking to show that it is on the side of hard-pressed families. Eric Pickles pledges on bin collections, the Council Tax freeze and, most importantly, attempts to reinvigorate the right to buy policy which helped to define the Conservative Party as the party of aspiration for a generation, are the beginning of a core message which will be repeated between now and the next General Election.
In his speech tomorrow afternoon, the Party and the public will be looking for the Prime Minister to show why he rather than Ed Milband is the leader the country needs to see it through continued economic turbulence, but also a more positive message of a party which is on the side of the ordinary voter.
Follow Andrew Smith on Twitter @connectandrew
