The Policy Blender

Newspapers are reporting last night's contest between the two Davids as a score draw. Not so. David Davis belied the predictions that PR specialist would wipe the floor with him by producing an assured display.

Davis succeeded in bringing out the worries that follow Cameron around: that he's vacuous and that he hasn't thought any of his policies through apart from education (which is his parliamentary brief anyway).

Cameron, for his part, performed badly. This leadership race is clearly his to lose, but then we said that about David Davis going into the conference, and Cameron doesn't have as much to fall back on. 'Dave', as he prefers to be known, didn't step up the gear required. He landed some effective technical point scorers by stating that policies shouldn’t be set out in detail for tomorrow's newspapers five years before an election. But to no avail.

What Conservatives want is a commitment to the principle of economic growth stimulated by low tax. Davis made that commitment, and stressed that this was for the benefit of the very poorest of society. Cameron did neither.

Cameron should be in good Conservative territory on tax, he has shadow Chancellor George Osborne on his team who has made distinct noises about flat-tax in recent months. Instead, he spoke of issues that Conservatives are typically suspicious of: drugs liberalisation and climate change. He also cemented the heir to Blair claims with a heartfelt plea for Africa: a worthy cause, but far to close to Tony's patch to be advisable.

All the while Davis played a with a firm, straight bat - looking solid and professional and pressing the right Tory buttons along the way: low tax, economy, crime and family. Someone has to remind Cameron that the first election he has to win is one where only Conservatives can vote, so this is his chance to show that he really is committed to Conservative causes. If he doesn't, he's outta there.

Posted by Ben on Friday, November 04, 2005 at 9:45 am | Permalink