The story of the Tory campaign

If you read only one thing today, then make a cup of tea, sit in a comfy armchair, and make sure it’s Tim Montgomerie’s 7,000-word review of the Conservative election campaign.  Tim has opened up his address book and spoken with many of the main players in the Tory operation – and the result isn’t all that flattering.  Here’s a summary passage which gives a sense of it all:

“For a period, the ‘Big Society’ was put at the heart of the campaign. Amazingly, the Big Society was never tested in focus groups and it failed on the doorstep. One leading adviser to the campaign complained of a ‘cavalier’ approach to research. ‘They latched on to research that backed their views and ignored any research that challenged it.’  The party had no powerful message on political reform, even though the expenses-gate had traumatised the nation’s relationship with parliament only twelve months earlier.