Don’t Despair Dave Remember 1992
The 1992 election was historic for two reasons, the first
being it was the fourth Conservative victory on the bounce and no party had
done that since the war. The other
reason was that John Major’s Conservatives were not meant to win, at best they
were looking at being the biggest party in a hung parliament. The current mood in the press is a Labour victory
in 2015, but even if things don’t pick up the Conservatives can still fight the
next election and stand a chance of winning, by doing what they did in 1992.
David Cameron will be more than aware of what happened in
1992, he was after all one of the masterminds behind the campaign. The question he has to ask himself is can he
do it again? The short answer is yes,
all he needs to do is pick holes in Labours economic plan, and that is not exactly
hard as the plan Labour current plan is more like a list of complaints about
the Tory cuts than a credibly economic plan.
In 1992 the Conservatives showed that Labour was not yet ready to govern
by picking holes in their economic plan, basically showing were the sums don’t
add up and also how much tax people would pay under Labour and it worked. This time round showing Labour is not ready
for government should be easy. The
Conservatives simply need to attack the fact Labour have not backed a single
cut, they refused to cap benefits but capped public sector pay, they could also
play the tax card saying how Labour wants the 50p tax despite it raising less money
than the current 45p tax. They can also
point out they want to continue borrowing more and more money so they can
repeat the “Kinnock’s Double-Whammy” campaign because like in 1992 Labours
economic policy will lead to high tax and high inflation.
In 1992 John Major ran a very personal campaign he held
rallies on his soapbox and this showed he was more in touch with people than
Neil Kinnock who held his rallies in large stadiums and came across as arrogant. This type of in touch with people campaign
will most likely to pay dividend again, David Cameron has a big image problem,
he is seen as an out of touch posh boy and using rhetoric like skivers vs
strivers is not helping his cause. For
David Cameron to show he is in touch with the voting public he needs to change
the tone of his argument rather than skiver vs strivers he needs to explain
that welfare reform is a necessary evil and it is essential to balance the nations
books. Many people will not like this but
they will understand it, and it comes across as more compassionate and
understanding. It is the kind of
language that says, we understand that many people who draw benefits are just
down on their luck. However, you also
have to understand the current system is unsustainable. Cameron’s current rhetoric makes people on benefits
sound like devils that refuse to work and are draining the country dry, the aggressive
language used currently will not work in the long run and will further demonise
the Tories in the inner cities and in Scotland, it also won’t help win votes
amongst those who have recently found themselves unemployed. So in the run up to the election Cameron needs
to change his tone back to the tone of compassionate conservatism, many people
do see the argument for his policies but he needs his language to be more in
line with, this is essential rather than we don’t care about the poor.
The final piece of the 1992 Conservative victory was Labour
leader Neil Kinnock, he just was not prime ministerial, and people just did not
trust him. Luckily the current leader is
suffering from the same problem, he is still a figure of fun in many of the
papers, many people don’t like the Conservatives but don’t like the idea of
Prime Minister Ed Miliband and finally polls say that David Cameron is seen as
more Prime Ministerial than Ed. In the
age of the internet and 24 hour news a parties leader is important and it may
just like in 92 prove a huge stumbling block for Labour.
So to conclude I would like to see the next election
campaign fought on economic grounds, and for the Conservatives to win they need
to launch a sustained attack on Labours economic policy as well as showing them
up as not ready to govern. David Cameron
needs to change the party rhetoric to a more compassionate tone, to show the
conservatives are in touch with voters no more skivers vs strivers move onto
the tone of painful but essential. This compassionate
conservatism worked for Major in 92 and it worked for George Bush in 2004 and
2004, it is a tried and tested way of getting Conservative policy accepted by
the public at large. The final point is
to emphasise on the party leaders David Cameron is seen as more compassionate and
more electable than his party. The Prime
Minister is an asset and one that should be used to show the caring side of the
Conservative party, just as Major used his soapbox to show he understood people
better than Kinnock, Cameroon must do the rounds to show he understands voters
concerns and that they can trust him, in other words dust of the soapbox. Fighting the next election using a mix of 1992
tactics and compassionate conservative rhetoric will not necessarily win the
next election, but it will lead to a much better result than fighting it on right
wing rhetoric of the workers and the shirkers.
Which shows the Conservatives to be out of touch and will help Labours
cause, it will also do further damage to the Conservative brand.
