Why slow GDP figures could be good for the Tories

Are today’s GDP figures really a blow to George Osborne as some of his critics are claiming? The Office for National Statistics said today that GDP grew by just 0.3 per cent in the first quarter of this year, which is half what it was in the last three months of 2014.

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What’s holding growth back is weak output in the construction, industrial and services sectors. Ed Balls managed to resist launching into his Ed Balls Day celebrations too early and said ‘these figures show they have not fixed the economy for working families’.

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The figures do suggest that the economy isn’t going gangbusters. But politically, this may not be the worst thing to happen for the Tories, given too much economic security may lead voters to conclude that it is safe to vote in a left wing government. Or else it may help Labour.

One thing that is still difficult for Labour MPs as they stand on the doorstep is that they are campaigning in a recovery, whether or not it is as strong as the Tories have been arguing.