A Pall Mall club: the members’ table at lunchtime: unease and discontent. Everyone wants rid of Gordon Brown. No one is sure about David Cameron. I am asked the questions that I have been asked a hundred times before. What does he believe in? Will he be up to it?
The questioners think that their doubts arise from a shortage of policies. They are wrong. The problem is caused by an absence of conviction. After all, the Lib Dems have policies on everything from asparagus beds to xylophone-playing. Little good it does them, because few people believe that they stand for anything.
No one thought that about Margaret Thatcher. Yet in 1978/79, Tory policy-making was at roughly the same level as it is now. There was a crucial difference. Like her or loathe her — there was rarely a middle way — voters felt that her opinions rested upon a rock of conviction. Not many people say that about the Tories today.
There is a graver problem. Public dismay about the state of the country extends well beyond Pall Mall. There is a widespread desire for strong government. In Conservative circles, there is a longing for another Tory revolutionary: a second Margaret Thatcher, who could force through the necessary changes and restore our pride in our country. Even many people who intend to vote Tory wonder whether Mr Cameron has the firmness of purpose required.
One man is to blame for this anxious agnosticism: David Cameron. Up to now, there has been a problem with his rhetoric and his tone of voice. Although he has been eloquent about change and modernisation, he has yet to hit the deeper notes. He has yet to expound his political convictions.
This does not mean that they are lacking, though they are based on practicalities, not on abstractions.
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