Tonight's planned Conservative election broadcast to be replaced with a "from the heart" straight to camera address by David Cameron

The Telegraph's Benedict Brogan reports that the Conservative election broadcast scheduled to be aired tonight has been scrapped.

He explains:

Instead David Cameron has recorded a personal statement that aims to identify him – and not Nick Clegg – as the change candidate for those who want a new kind of politics. He’s done it direct to camera (if Mr Clegg can look the voter in the eye, so can Dave), and it is interspersed with greatest hits from the crucial moments when Mr Cameron stood out from the pack as someone who is on the side of an angry electorate (these include his expenses press conference last May, his ‘glad I got that off my chest’ answer to Joey Jones at the manifesto launch, his defence of marriage tax, etc).

His emphasis will be on the Big Society – not the philosophy, but the specifics: recall your MP, cut ministerial salary, reduce the size of the Commons, etc. Be the change, Mr Tony told his party when he left. Mr Cameron wants to remind us why he, and not Mr Clegg, represents change.

I will post the broadcast on ConHome as soon as it is available.

4.30pm update:

Tonight's broadcast does indeed replace the scheduled broadcast which would have been an attack ad against the Labour Party. In this film, recorded yesterday in his back garden, Mr Cameron acknowledges that the election has been blown wide open by the TV debates, and it is because of this that he wanted to respond to the public mood by making this appeal directly to the British people.

His message remains that only a clear, decisive Conservative victory can deliver the change the country needs and that there are a number of key qualities to deliver that change: directness, strong leadership  leadership, energy, strong values and a big idea - and the video clips used within the broadcast aim to demonstrate those qualities.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE BROADCAST.

Jonathan Isaby