Former Times journalist Nick Wood was a media adviser to Conservative leaders William Hague and Iain Duncan Smith. He now runs Media Intelligence Partners.
Politicians face two key imperatives – to be right and to be popular. David Cameron’s biggest mistake has been to elevate popularity over being right.
He has become a political fashion victim, striking attitudes calculated to appeal to the chattering classes who dominate the Westminster village. But fashion is by definition ephemeral. During the dying days of the disintegrating Blair regime, it mattered little that Cameron was to be seen parading his concern about climate change by posing with huskies in the Arctic or warning about the perils of chocolate oranges. But while he fretted about distant reefs he failed to spot the more immediate threat posed by the shift in the political weather from Blair to Brown.
A big chill has descended upon the Conservatives, triggered by Brown’s eclipse of the tawdry glitz of the Blair era and the advent of “serious” politics with a socially conservative wrapping.
Cameron’s quest for popularity – his ‘Hug a Hoodie” phase – has had a doubly damaging effect. He has dismayed his natural supporters but he has also made himself appear lightweight and insubstantial alongside the Stakhanovite Brown.
Cameron must start to campaign for what is right and stop worrying about whether the BBC and The Guardian will judge it popular – a lot of the time they won’t.
By demonstrating that he is prepared to fight for what he believes in – and what his supporters believe in – he will at least start to improve his ratings and reputation in the leadership stakes. He will gain respect, even among people who don’t agree with him, because he will be perceived to be sincere. His biggest handicap as he anxiously contemplates the prospect of an autumn election is that Brown is viewed by the public as strong and as capable of leading the country through difficult times.
Let’s leave policies to Cameron. Suffice it to say his position on tax is muddled, his position on reform of health and education is too timid, and his profile in areas such as youth crime, Europe, immigration and waste of public money is almost invisible. He needs to do something about all of them fast.