Even during the most difficult period for the Conservatives - when Tony Blair enjoyed very high opinion poll ratings - there were plently of Tory policies that voters liked. Core Tory policies on immigration, Europe, tax and crime all scored highly but the Conservatives weren't trusted to deliver them.
Under David Cameron the Conservatives began a process that became known as "decontamination" to change voter perceptions of the party. It had a number of ingredients:
- The ending of certain Conservative policies including new grammar schools and the patient's passport - that uber-modernisers believed communicated an out-of-touch and elitist Conservative Party.
- A gentler tone to political discourse including 'an end to Punch and Judy politics' where knockabout and personal campaigning trumps serious focus on the issues.
- Not constantly obsessing about the same issues but also talking about other issues - particularly the environment and social justice.
- Zero tolerance of racist or homophobic attitudes.
- Changing the look of the Conservative Party through the A-list and its drive to increase the number of ethnic minority and female Conservative MPs.
The decontamination strategy as it was pursued had two main opponents. Some opposed any need for serious change. Others questioned the emphasis that was placed upon it. This second set of opponents believed that some form of 'decontamination' was necessary but that there should have been more balance in the Conservative appeal so that the change looked credible and not an abrupt break with the past. Defenders of the approach as it was pursued believed that only a dramatic process of decontamination would convince voters that the modernisation of the party was deep and significant.
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