James Forsyth reviews the week in politics
‘He who controls the past, controls the future’ as George Orwell reminded us. This means that a battle breaks out in every party after every election to explain the result, to determine which policies helped and which policies hindered. Win or lose, the various factions inside parties race to establish a narrative that is helpful to their cause.
Straight after Labour’s landslide win in 1997, it was declared that ‘we campaigned as New Labour and we will govern as New Labour’. The Blairites were so eager to establish this point that they even considered putting it into the Queen’s speech. The message to the left of the party was clear: the massive majority was a result of the new outlook that Tony Blair had imposed on the party and in government there would be no going back to the party’s traditional positions.
If David Cameron has kissed the Queen’s hand by the time you read this (The Spectator went to press with the result hideously uncertain), he will be tempted to deliver his own version of this message.
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