Nick Boles and the Cameroons have been getting it wrong for almost a decade
By Iain Martin Politics Last updated: November 20th, 2013
At the heart of the Cameroon problem is a catastrophic mistake made almost a decade ago. They were right that the Tory Party needed to change and that to stop losing elections it must attract new voters. But to attract new supporters they set out to be rude to the party's existing voters.
At the heart of the Cameroon problem is a catastrophic mistake made almost a decade ago. They were right that the Tory Party needed to change and that to stop losing elections it must attract new voters. But to attract new supporters they set out to be rude to the party's existing voters.
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When the row about grammar schools blew up early in his leadership, it was not enough for David Cameron to say that he did not agree with the idea that there should more grammars as a way of improving social mobility. He had to describe those who disagreed with him as "delusional". When he said it he sounded haughty, as though he was dismissing his valet for mislaying the cufflinks. This infuriated many in the grammar school generation – who benefited after the Second World War – and younger types interested in social mobility not fortunate enough to have been to Eton. Cameron could have said instead that grammar schools have their place, that he might even consider some expansion, but his main focus would be on extending New Labour academies and improving schooling for as many pupils as possible.
Where conservatives have won in the Anglosphere in recent in decades they have tended to "lock in" their base and then build out in search of floating voters. John Howard in Australia and Stephen Harper in Canada show that it can be done. Conservatives can win majorities. Best of all at this was Ronald Reagan. He was, in terms of social attitudes, pretty liberal. He was a divorced former Hollywood actor. And yet all types of conservatives voted for him, including those from the then emerging religious right, along with defecting Democrats attracted by his aspirational message. He had a gift for focusing domestically on a couple of big subjects (turning around the economy and winning the Cold War) that might unite large numbers of people. As I have said before, it would simply not have occurred to Reagan to campaign by assaulting conservatives in the hope that it would win over floating voters. He would have regarded it as bad manners, as well as bad politics.
In contrast, the Cameroons were obsessed with a misreading of the Blair playbook. They did not "lock in" the Conservative base. They treated it dismissively, presuming that those they alienated had nowhere else to go. Then up pops Ukip under Nigel Farage. Whoops.
MORE:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/iainmartin1/100246807/nick-boles-and-the-cameroons-have-been-getting-it-wrong-for-almost-a-decade/