Party Conference - Day Three

Well Day three of Party Conference, if I felt on Sunday annoyed at not being there, I am now extremely annoyed at not being there. From a Conservative viewpoint this week is getting better and better. The highlight for me today was IDS and from watching the reception at the Conference I suspect that it was for many attendees. IDS may not have been ideally suited to the leadership of the Conservative Party but I am utterly convinced that he will be accorded a strong mention in the story of the recovery of the Conservative Party. He has almost single handedly sketched out a mission for modern Conservatives, he has made a persuasive analysis of our social problems and has come up with bold and imaginative solutions. The party faithful is clearly very very proud of him as evidenced by the massive standing ovation he got. One other thing that needs doing though is that every time a journalist says that the grassroots of the Conservative Party are only interested in Europe, Immigration and Tax then the enormous ovation for IDS at this Conference for a speech on social breakdown, drug-dependency and social justice should be rammed with glee down their throats.

It is a shame that a lot of the Conference coverage will probably be lost somewhat under the prevailing story of the day which was Gordon Brown’s cynical and ultimately cack-handed attempt at stealing the limelight. I cannot remember such an unremittingly bad news day for Labour. I think that every major broadcaster has resorted to calling the PM’s actions a stunt, the news blogs have been worse. The Conservative blogs have naturally been apoplectic with vitriolic rage, but what has surprised me is how some of the newspapers which now seem to have blogs attached seem to have put the boot in. It may be slightly too early but there is a sense in which something has shifted today. I can’t wait to avail myself of an opportunity to get on the doorstep and see if the media are picking up on or even leading a shift of mood at large.

If I were a Labour strategist tonight I would be sweating. You can see a Conservative Party that is united, disciplined and up for the fight. You have a media which has albeit only over one story on one day given you a monstering the like of which you haven’t experienced since the darkest days of Kinnock. You then know that the leader of the opposition has his day in the spotlight tomorrow and the positive press that that will generate. Do you advise your PM to stick or twist? It’s a huge decision and the Conservatives are making it more fraught than you thought they would.

My final thought is this, whatever happens in the next few days, whether Gordon goes for it or pulls his troops back. Politics is very much more interesting now than it was before the Party Conference started, and the election is going to be every bit as competitive as everyone suspected it would be before the Brown bounce in the Summer.

Party Conference - Day Two

Well the more I hear of Conference the more disturbed I get. Now don’t get worried, it’s just that I sooo wish that circumstances hadn’t prevented me from attending. Caught up with most of the main action via the Conservatives.com website and it was another stonking day.

The highlight for me was clearly George Osborne, he has had many internal critics over his proceeds of growth formulation. Many people wanted some wild commitments to slash and burn tax policy and George stood resolute. The speech he gave today showed why he was absolutely right to do so. He showed in a few minutes that he gets the economy in a way that Gordon Brown never has, he showed that a Conservative run economy will be a better run economy. He showed that the Conservative party is a low tax party, but that it is a stable economy party first. He showed that this generation knows that you have to earn the ability to cut taxes. It simply isn’t enough to cut taxes and hope the Laffer Curve works. He then showed what you can do with a little imagination and iron fiscal discipline, with 2 fully costed and funded tax pledges designed to help people to buy a home and keep a home and pass on to the next generation the fruits of individual prudence. It went down a storm in the hall, and I suspect that it will go down equally well in the country. Where many many people fear the regressive nature of inheritance tax.

Another speech that I absolutely loved was Alan Duncan. Alan is probably the most underrated member of the Shadow team, he has certainly been under-utilitsed in the past. His speech was an absolute crackerjack attack on a decade of Labour, it never once got personal, it never once got malicious but it went straight to the heart of issue. Labour believe in propaganda, not policy, in headlines and hype, over substance. They are in the midst of perpetrating a gigantic fraud on the electorate of this country and it is every Conservative’s duty to stop them. Alan was in fine form and to think that he could give the speech after completing the Great North Run yesterday is amazing. His speech was like the percussion of the opening barrages on the Labour trenches, if they were in any doubt before they should no longer be. The Conservatives will fight for every vote, every seat and are fired up to beat Labour whenever Gordon Brown dares to call an election.

Michael Gove gave a passionate speech on education, he has often appeared to me to be a bit of a nerd and a geek. However his speech was phenomenally good, and whilst it majored on heavily Conservative themes of discipline, rigour and standards. He managed to show that they matter not only to the teacher but to the pupils as well. It showed that our schools will be in very safe hands when he emerges from the shadow!

This Conservative conference is going exceptionally well from what I see. So far the speeches have been top rate, and I suspect that David Cameron’s speech will be the best of the lot.

Party Conference - Day One

So for the 4th Year in a row I have been unable to visit a Party Conference due to one reason or another, this year I just couldn’t get the time off work. So I had to watch the highlights on the web, the telly or wherever I could. First up was David Cameron giving an interview to Andrew Marr and it was a stonker, came across extremely well. Answered everything politely but forcefully and refused to play Marr’s game on opinion polls. Next up was William Hague, who it has to be said is one of the best live orators of this generation. His opening remarks were again extremely well made. He highlighted Conservative successes in May, tore Gordon Brown to shreds over his record, his positioning and his canniving calculations around how best to wrong foot his opponents. He then gave a moving tribute to David Cameron which was well received.

The next speech I saw was Caroline Spelman, the Party Chairman, she is not a crackerjack orator in the mould of Hague but then not everyone can be. She gave a good speech in her role as Chairman, although I always think that she suffers from a timid sounding voice. Nevertheless a good start so far. Then I managed to download Hezza, now Lord Heseltine and I would probably disagree on a few things but it was extremely comforting to see him up on stage. He outlined the challenge for the cities and whacked Brown as well. Then came what to me was the highlight of day one, Bozza. Boris gave a barnstorming address to Conference. It was typical Boris a tad shambolic in places but it was earnest and serious and shows that whilst he ‘reserves the right to make jokes’ his is a heavyweight mayoral challenge. Clearly he needs policies but his description of the problems of London, incivility, fear and social dislocation will chime with many many people. His crusade against bendy buses is a USP and his championing of proper homes instead of rabbit hutches as well as promising to end the Livingstonian guerilla war between City Hall and the London Boroughs shows that he will be more than just a humourous front man.

On to day 2 I suppose, but I will say this, it looks like the guns are aimed, primed and ready to fire. Hague and Heseltine aimed a good few ranging shots today. There is only one Target. Gordon prepare for the onslaught.