Much is being made of the Conservatives current polling figures.  Is this a trend?  Is Labour closing the gap?  Has Cameron failed to ‘seal the deal’ with the electorate?  Is Ashcroft right that polls don’t matter because it’s the key swing in a handful of marginal’s that will win this election, (hence the pouring of time & resource into key marginal’s)? 

Of course, who is right we will see…..

In the blog article below, advice given was that the Tories should really start speaking on a handful of key ‘safe’ Tory issues including:  tax cuts, law & order, immigration, Europe.

BUT….What is critical is that the Conservatives need to focus on painting a picture, full of colour & warmth, of the world they want to take us to…..when we are past all the pain…….

Now that may strange and an overly fluffy statement.  But it’s critical for the Conservative strategists to grasp this nettle. 

The focus on ‘Austerity’ and the fact that Britain is broken, the economy a shambles, a debt that is crippling is now well understood by the British public.  George Osborne has been courageous in his ‘sound’ statements on public finances and how he will slash the public debt within four years and that the situation is that dire, he will implement an emergency budget within 50 days of taking office.

Now, October Conference time this message resonated with the mass electorate….and it still does resonate…..but now more so with the financial markets and top economists.  But economists don’t win elections.  It’s the people on the doorstop that matter and push come to shove they may be fearing the prospect of spending cuts, (many of which they don’t know), and potential taxes going up.  This is going to be a fertile area for Labour to exploit…and yes…play on people’s fears in the coming campaign.  Already literature has been circulated saying the Tories will double business rates in certain areas, or close hospital wards as part of its cuts program.  All lies….but Labour will certainly press home any fear for gain of an advantage.

This Government is adopting the stance of an alcoholic.  They have an addiction, (spending tax payers cash…and future cash like there’s no tomorrow).  But like any alcoholic they can’t admit to the problem.  Worse still they don’t want any help in solving their addiction.  The idea of cold turkey is something that is tough to sell to an alcoholic.  Hence the same with tough economic measures.  People fear the medicine.  But people also deny the problem affects them.  ‘How does national debt affect me in my council house…bar…it’s other peoples problems not mine mate’!

The British people love the underdog.  They love to believe in the unbelievable.  They support situations in which winning seems the remotest possibility….but sometimes the impossible happens!  They dream the dream and often dreams are better than reality.  Hence why we always believe that we can win every World Cup we enter, despite often not possessing the talent to progress far.  That belief in hope ably demonstrates that the British people hold dear aspiration as key dream.

It is true that the British people have had to listen to months, maybe years now, of gloomy headlines.  Banks collapsing.  Financial markets in turmoil.  Unemployment rising.  Soldiers dying.  Coupled with a freezing cold winter and heaps of snow, the people must now be at the end of their tether.  They need something to look forward to…..not more doom & gloom.

In many ways Labour strategists are seizing on this theme.  ‘Conservatives talk down Britain’!  ‘Labour does not share Conservative Pessimism’.  ‘Conservatives aim to slash spending and kill the recovery off’.  ‘Inheritance tax cuts for the rich’.  All very familiar slogans coming from the Labour Leadership.

Now, what the Conservatives have to remember is that the current British psyche is a debt culture, (thanks to 13 years of Socialism).  Spend today, pay off tomorrow……but tomorrow never comes.  Debt increases.  Hence why the British have one of the highest personal debt ratios in the G20.  Our people spend what they cannot afford but in the knowledge they can get more credit cards, consolidate etc and put off dealing with their debt.  Hence, in their own minds they ask, ‘Why pay off the debt today, why not leave until tomorrow’. 

What is ‘right’ and what is popular are two different things, especially when it comes to macroeconomic management.

As we head into Spring.  The weather gets warmer.  Sunny weather, sunny outlook!  Nights grow less dark.  People need to again feel optimistic.  To believe in something.  Believe in better times.  The World Cup approaches.  Optimism abounds.

Hence, why the Conservatives campaign must now focus on Aspiration not Austerity.

When people aspire to something better, they work harder….they have a motivation, an inspiration….an aspiration.

That is the ‘promised land’.  The dream of a better tomorrow.

This is the vivid, bright picture that Cameron must now paint in the hearts and minds of the British electorate.

The people are ready to be inspired.  They are listening. 

What will Cameron’s Britain look like in 5 years.  In ten?  What’s the journey?  How will people’s lives be better?

As Conservatives we all know these answers.  But does the mainstream electorate?  Have we articulated our vision enough?  I would say we have a lot more to do.  Turning our campaign into a beacon of hope for all.

Thatcher articulated a dream.  She enthused people with policies of wider home ownership, reduction of the state, privatisation, reduced taxation, Union power in check, strong law & order and of course a sound defence and leading voice on the international stage. 

The current Conservative election campaign is focused on : ‘Year for Change’?  Yes we need change.  But is that enough aspiration for people?  Change…to what is asked by the media and the electorate if polls are to be believed.

Perhaps Conservatives need a new slogan?  How about capturing the present and looking to the future.  ‘Rebuilding Britain for a better tomorrow’.

Labour won in 1997 with the slogan:  ‘Britain deserves better’.  Same principle.  Obama’s was ‘Change we can believe in’. 

Come on DC.  Aspiration not austerity.  It’s the natural next stage to your campaign for the keys to Number 10. 

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