Last night a Tory candidate was telling me what her message to voters was on the doorstep. It was a very cogent critique of Labour. But when I asked her what her positive message was, I just got the same answer back with a slightly different top on it. Her inability to set out a positive message illustrated a problem that is bedevilling the Tories at the moment: they do not have enough of a vision for the country.
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David Butterfield
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To be sure, Labour’s manifold failings mean that the Tories will almost certainly win the next election. But the recession and the anti-politics mood in the country, Labour’s internal polling shows that it is the expenses scandals which have done most to drive voters away, mean that the Tories won’t have a honeymoon. There’s a real danger that the size of the crisis and the sour public mood mean that the Tories end up drifting once they get into government.
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