Cameron’s political language

The US pollster Frank Luntz has made a huge impact on recent British political conference seasons. Here he explains why the Tory leader is pulling ahead of the Chancellor — and what the American political scene has to teach them both

Washington

My Labour friends insist that the public just doesn’t know Gordon Brown the way Labour insiders do — that when the public gets to see Brown as leader, which could come any day now, they will warm to him. I expect the opposite — on the basis of many hours spent researching the thinking of voters on both sides of the Atlantic. Successive telephone polls and focus groups have shown that voters trust him but don’t like him. More importantly, while they overwhelmingly approve of his job performance, they have serious doubts about him assuming the top position. Put simply, they like the idea of Chancellor Brown but have serious doubts about Prime Minister Brown.