Crosbyism is back, ready to bore us into voting Tory

Forget the phrases ‘long-term economic plan’ and ‘propped up by the SNP’, which came to define the 2015 election. Lynton Crosby, political mastermind and Conservative campaign director extraordinaire, has a new approach. It’s called ‘strong and stable leadership’ and its poster-girl is Theresa May.

After having triggered the starting gun of the election earlier this week, the Prime Minister began her campaign with a speech in Bolton. It was pretty short, but it set the tone for the campaign over the next 50 days. ‘Strong and stable leadership,’ she said, over and over again. Expect to hear the same speech churned out throughout the campaign, with the odd news element sprinkled in for flavour, or perhaps an occasional dash of local colour added. 

‘It’s about strong and stable leadership in the national interest,’ she promised us. ‘And you only get that strong and stable leadership by voting for the Conservatives.’ ‘Strong and stable leadership.’ ‘Five more years of strong and stable leadership. So