It is rare that a political party is handed an issue that enables it to rally its base, appeal to swing voters and put the other side on the back foot. But that is how much of a gift to the Tories these strikes are.
There has been a bit of an enthusiasm deficit amongst Tory activists and traditional Tories more generally ever since David Cameron recalibrated the party’s European policy following the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. But the strikes issue, and Cameron’s strong position on it, is, I’m told by those out in the country, rallying these voters to the cause.
At the same time, I suspect it is helping the Tories with swing voters who don’t like the idea of their train journeys being disrupted or a big British company being grounded by an industrial dispute no one really understands.
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