Cameron's broad Conservatism will restore our party as the natural party of government

On Saturday David Cameron launched the next phase of the Tory election campaign. In a video message he invited people who had put their faith in Tony Blair to support the Conservatives at the next election:

"The hopes you had with Labour that Britain would become a stronger, fairer society - those hopes didn't just die because Labour haven't achieved them. They're alive with us."

He promised to keep Labour achievements including the minimum wage, Sure Start and the Winter Fuel Allowance.

Today, reports The Sun, he'll take that campaign on to a new level and unveil three posters featuring three Labour supporters who now back the Conservatives (that will make them hard to deface!). ConservativeHome will publish them and accompanying videos at exactly that time.

Norman Tebbit won't be pleased. He blogged again - just 48 hours ago - calling for the Conservatives to do more to energise the Tory core vote. He's wrong to see a contradiction. In the video message above David Cameron noted how Tory support for marriage, welfare reform, a benefits crackdown and a supply-side revolution in schools will achieve progressive ends. These are policies that should appeal to every natural Tory. And they come on top of David Cameron's "never" to the Euro, an annual cap on immigration, the aboltion of inheritance tax for all but millionaires and new rights for householders to protect themselves from burglars.

Cameron is avoiding the trap set by what I've called the unholy alliance of the Left and anti-modernisers on the Right. He is refusing to see the Tory prospectus in narrow terms. Yes, the Tories remain the party of euroscepticism, a tough approach to crime and smaller government*. But today we are also the party with the best ideas on fighting poverty, sensible environmentalism and civil liberties. In other words, because of the 'politics of and', we are in reach of becoming the natural party of government once again.

Tim Montgomerie

* Read Stephan Shakespeare's Platform piece today to understand the possibility of a new golden age for taxpayers.