As I've written before, in my view British General Elections are won on what I call "positionings", not policies. All that a few key policies do is to vivify the positioning and make it seem credible (or otherwise). Here's what I think have been the main parties' positionings since 1997
1997
Labour: "Thatcherism with a human face"
Conservatives: "When we lose, it will be nice to take a break from arguing with each other over Europe, so we can spend more time doing what we really enjoy - like taking bribes and cheating on our wives."
2001
Labour: "The fruits of prudence for the reform of the public services"
Conservatives: "Run! Run! The Germans are coming!"
2005
Labour: "It's the economy, stupid (...but Don't Mention The War!)"
Conservatives: "Are you thinking what we're thinking? (Probably not, but we thought we'd ask, just in case...)"
Now, for 2010 we already have pretty good idea what Labour's will be:
2010
Labour: "Where have you gone, Tony Blair (oh, oh)? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you (Ooo ooo ooo). What's that you say, Labour Backbencher? 'Grinning Tone has left and gone away', Hey hey hey, hey hey hey"
But what about
Conservatives: "..."
I don't recall it precisely, but in his "Time Trumpet", Armando Iannucci suggested that our 2010 manifesto might consist of a booklet of blank sheets of paper and be entitled (something like) "Dare to dream". Obviously that would be one option, and given that Gordon Brown is clearly incapable of running a bath, it might even be a winning option. But my guess is that we should aspire to some more concrete positioning than that. I have some ideas of my own, but what do you think...?
