The Tory plan for victory

Today’s Telegraph piece on how the Tories plan to fight the next election is worth reading in full. But there are some points in it that deserve special attention. First, the Ashcroft marginal seats campaign is still delivering with the Tories enjoying a 14 point lead in the main marginals. Second, love-bombing the Lib Dems seems to have worked. There has been a swing of 15 percent from them to the Tories since the 2005 election. Third, the Tories are confident that a desire to kick Labour out will be enough to motivate the base. As one Tory strategist tells the paper, “There is no point in focussing on immigration, Europe and other traditional right-wing areas as it will no longer attract voters as they are already on side. But it might put some voters off.”

These process stories are never particularly attractive and I expect many Coffee Housers will be frustrated by the cautious Tory mindset this one depicts.