In his column for the News of the World (not online), Fraser Nelson awards gold, silver and bronze awards to the three people he credits for the Tory position in the polls:
David Cameron gets Fraser's bronze medal: "He's sharpened up and looks likeable and electable... But he hasn't explained what he'd do for Britain." We'd be a little bit more generous to David Cameron. The party does have a good number of positive reasons for voting Conservative. Not enough yet - that's true - but there's plenty of time to provide them before the 2010 General Election.
Lord Ashcroft, the man Labour love to hate, gets Fraser's silver award because of his marginal seats initiative: "His team sits in a corner of Tory HQ, a law unto themselves. And the best-run part of that often shambolic operation." Fraser overdoes Lord Ashcroft's role. Our performance in marginal seats owes much to the early adoption of candidates and we're aware of some dissatisfaction at the service that those candidates receive from CCHQ. Lord Ashcroft's polling operation is unpopular with key aides to Team Cameron. The Conservative Party owes Lord Ashcroft a great deal - not least because of the money he poured into the party in the leanest of lean times, 1997 to 2001, but the Labour Party and Fraser Nelson give him more credit than is deserved.
Fraser's gold medal goes to Gordon Brown. We have no quarrel with that verdict. From the bottled election to the Olympics torch fiasco to the 10p tax con, Mr Brown has indeed been "the Tories' hero".
For us at least three other people deserve medals:
- Andy Coulson. The media operation has much improved since he joined the team and the Westminster insiders polled by CCHQ recently rated the Tory operation as more effective than that of Downing Street, the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats.
- Lynton Crosby. The man who brought discipline to CCHQ at the last General Election has done the same to the Boris bid to oust Ken Livingstone. A campaign that was all at sea in the autumn of 2007 has a very good chance of success on 1st May. There are rumours that the Australian campaigns guru may be bask at CCHQ for a election coordination role for the nationwide Conservative Party. Unfortunately Lynton Crosby's commercial commitments in Australia may make that difficult.
- George Osborne. ConservativeHome has thought that Mr O would make a better Chairman than Shadow Chancellor and we disagree with his fiscal policy but he deserves enormous credit for the behind-the-scenes role he plays in Conservative strategy. It was George Osborne who recruited Andy Coulson. It was George Osborne who delivered the inheritance tax announcement that saved our electoral skins last autumn. It was George Osborne who recognised the problems in the Boris campaign and led the way to putting them right - including the recruitment of Lynton Crosby.
Gordon deserves the gold, silver AND the bronze medals!!!
Posted by: Sammy Finn | April 27, 2008 at 19:51
I wonder who Fraser was talking to about Lord Ashcroft. Lord Ashcroft perhaps!?
Posted by: Alan S | April 27, 2008 at 20:02
Ashcroft and his operation IS overrated but I've no problem with Labour seeing him as a bogeyman!
Posted by: Anthony Broderick | April 27, 2008 at 20:06
I took one look at the title of this piece and thought 'Gordon Brown'!
Who else deserves the gold? Nobody comes close. In fact Gordon deserves all three medals.
Perhaps he should be offered lifetime Conservative membership for services to the party.
Posted by: Mike H | April 27, 2008 at 21:03
I suppose Brown is electorally the antithesis of Thatcher.
Posted by: Tom FD | April 27, 2008 at 21:32
Doesn't anyone else see that for Brown to, very deservedly, get the Gold leaves us with a potential problem should either he (rather magically admittedly) regain popularity or be replaced by someone whom the electorate and media decide to like and back?
OK so perhaps it is really true that elections are lost and not won but we still badly need some good doorstep reasons for Basildon man and the strivers and copers to actively support us, other than the fact that we aren't, apparently, New Labour.
Posted by: Mr Angry | April 27, 2008 at 21:40
Remember this time last year ? We were well ahead of Labour with Tony Blair still prime minister and the economy more or less OK. Things got worse in the summer but I believe Fraser Nelson is wrong. The greatest debt this party owes is to David Cameron.
Posted by: Malcolm Dunn | April 27, 2008 at 21:51
I have sympathy with Malcolm's comments. Undoubtedly all if the other names mentioned above have played vital roles, but one wonders whether any other leader would have so deftly repositioned the party in the public's eyes, annulled Blair's threat to the point where liking the Cons could almost be Blairite to some quarters (and hence making him a liability within his own party) and then systematically dismember Brown's political reputation?
Cameron's doing a fabulous job.
Posted by: StevenAdams | April 27, 2008 at 22:09
Dear oh dear Malcolm. I've got a bottle of snake oil you can have for only £50 that will do for you what DC has done for the Tory Party (and the country).
Posted by: Henry Mayhew - 'kipper | April 27, 2008 at 22:11
In my opinion, David Cameron deserves most of the credit. In David Cameron we have a likeable and electable leader, something we have missed for quite some time.
Of course, it would have been far more difficult if it weren't for Lord Ashcroft, and of course, the blatant incompetence of Gordon Brown.
Posted by: Buckinghamshire Tory | April 27, 2008 at 22:55
Mr Angry 21:40
While I'm happy to celebrate the help that Gordon Brown is providing the Conservatives, and I would still award him the gold medal, I agree with the point you are making.
The Conservatives have much to offer the electorate in response to Brown's incompetent administration. But, as Matthew Parris put it in his recent article in The Times, we are still only seeing a part-assembled jigsaw and hearing waffle. The electorate needs to see the completed jigsaw and needs to start hearing a coherent message if Gordon Brown's excellent job of self-undermining is not to be wasted.
Brown talked a lot initially about his 'vision' but failed to deliver even the first clue as to what that 'vision' might be. We don't want to fall into the same trap.
Posted by: Mike H | April 27, 2008 at 23:13
Frank Field would be my nomination for a medal. He has done a better job in demolishing and deflating Broon than the Tories. Cameron should be awarded another lucky rabbit's foot.
Posted by: Dontmakemelaugh | April 27, 2008 at 23:40
Am I wrong, or wasn't it Steve Hilton who devised the whole 'how to get the Tories elected' project and picked Cameron as the right fit for the necessary criteria?
Posted by: Chad Noble | April 28, 2008 at 06:37
The gold goes to Gordon Brown, without doubt. And that should worry us: it means we are not the master of our own destiny. We're still picking up the anti-Brown vote; I'm still yet to see a proper narrative of what a Conservative Government will do other than not be Gordon Brown.
Posted by: Ash Faulkner | April 28, 2008 at 07:20
Whilst I don't think this would take your bronze, silver or gold some credit has to go in my opinion to the person who decided it was time once again to invest in agent training.
Over the last 18 months we have seen nearly 100 new agents trained by the party and sent to areas which haven't had proper staff in years.
Without a doubt this has been a huge boost in getting our message across and shouldnt be missed in this list.
Posted by: John | April 28, 2008 at 09:24
The Editor's final comments are very pertinent:
"George Osborne. ConservativeHome has thought that Mr O would make a better Chairman than Shadow Chancellor and we disagree with his fiscal policy".
He quite rightly lists George Osborne's positive achievements (only one of which falls into his remit as shadow chancellor).
As Ash Faulkner correctly points out:
"We're still picking up the anti-Brown vote; I'm still yet to see a proper narrative of what a Conservative Government will do other than not be Gordon Brown".
The economy - once again - will be central to winning the election and at the moment the only designated spokesman who makes consistent economic sense is Vince Cable.
Of course, John Redwood and Michael Fallon do as well but they are not in anyone's treasury team!!!
Posted by: David Belchamber | April 28, 2008 at 09:25
There should be no medals. Nothing has been won yet. Just think on that very carefully.
Posted by: Old Hack | April 28, 2008 at 11:41
Think where the party was before David Cameron was elected leader, just remember what the 8 years after '97 were like. Certainly events have been to our advantage over the past months but David Cameron deserves Gold by far and it is an idiot who cannot see it. He has made us electable.
Posted by: John W | April 28, 2008 at 12:19
Gordon Brown Harriet Harman and Jaqui Smiff
Posted by: Peter W Watson | April 28, 2008 at 12:39
David Cameron must take much credit,
Matt
Posted by: Matt Wright | April 28, 2008 at 16:56
Mike H @ 23.13:
Matthew parris, and you, are right- this IS only a part-finished jigsaw. Where I disagree with some other commentators, is that I don't demand to see the rest of the jigsaw now, two years (ish) before the election, especially when the government is giving us no such warning of their long term intentions.
As the jigsaw is slowly built, we're seeing the party become more and more electable. I have to have faith in the party leadership that they will continue to build it, finishing in time for the election campaign.
I'd say that it's taking some considerable party discipline and strength NOT to come up with one or two vote winning policies now, in order for short term polls gains - policies that may well be stolen or attacked over the next two years, annulling their electoral impact.
Posted by: StevenAdams | April 28, 2008 at 17:17