August's ten biggest political stories

There was a time when August was a quiet political month.  No longer.  If today is your first day back at the computer here's the ten most important (mainly Tory) stories you missed from the last few weeks...

The Tories maintain their large opinion poll lead. The month began with a Conservative lead of 19.0% in the ConHome poll of polls.  It ended with a lead of 18.6%.

Boris Johnson enjoyed lots of attention.  He endorsed Barack Obama, celebrated 100 days as Mayor, lost another Deputy Mayor, received the Olympic flag from Beijing, claimed the Brits had invented ping-pong, unveiled a climate change strategy for London and fanned speculation that he wanted to be PM.  A new narrative is clearly underway: Boris V Cameron is going to be the media's device to undermine DC.

Michael Gove attacked the hedonism of lads' magazines like Zoo and Nuts.  This socially-responsible Conservatism was followed up by Iain Duncan Smith and Ed Vaizey who suggested that Batman, The Dark Knight should have carried a stricter cinema classification and Andrew Lansley launching an inquiry into obesity.  A ConservativeHome survey found that Tory members were much less laissez-faire on these 'nudging' initiatives than those who leave comments on blogs.

David Cameron took a tough line against Russia over Georgia. A telephone call with John McCain helped produce a very assertive Conservative position - overturning an even-handed immediate reaction from a very cautious William Hague.  Mr Cameron's active stance contrasted hugely with the absence from the world stage of the feuding Brown and Miliband.

David Cameron's tour of northern marginals was overshadowed by a Policy Exchange report that the media reported as a call to 'abandon the north'.  The report was unfairly reported but it highlighted the dangerous strategy that had seen PX get too close to Team Cameron.

John Major won a lot of credit for funding the revival of British athletics.  ConHome was first to recognise that Britain's last Tory PM was due a measure of rehabilitation.

Lord (Sandy) Bruce-Lockhart died.  One of the gentlemen on Conservative politics - a leader in local government and of compassionate conservatism - lost his battle with cancer.  Tributes poured in and in.

Caroline Spelman lost the confidence of Conservative Party members.  A ConservativeHome survey found more members dissatisfied with the Tory Chairman than satisfied.  An unfair briefing campaign against Eric Pickles suggested that Team Cameron may be thinking of Chris Grayling as her likelier successor.

George Osborne claimed that the Conservatives are now the party of fairness. Mr Osborne is formally the Shadow Chancellor but he most enjoys his role as the strategic brain behind Project Cameron.  His 'fairness' speech sought to knock Labour off its most sacred turf.

The biggest story came at the very end of the month when Alistair Darling spoke of the worst economic crisis for sixty years.  Yes, sixty years!  Watch him here.  Charlie Elphicke decided that Darling must go for unforgivably talking the UK economy down.  Is Tory economic policy up to the increasing challenge of restoring the competitiveness of UK plc?  ConHome surveyed the good, the bad and the ugly of the frontbench's thinking.

Comments

[Vincent Wall]

"Boris V Cameron is going to be the media's device to undermine DC"

No! Don't blame the media. Blame Boris's ambitions.

Boris is determined to be PM.

Six years into a Cameron govt he'll have stopped being mayor of London and will be returning to the Commons.

All the real troubles will start then.

[Londoner]

I jotted down my own list before looking at yours. These were the extra points I had:

It's not just Darling, August was the month when it became clear for certain that we are in recession. Real world not politics.

It was also the month that confirmed we have a major problem with Corporate Tax driving British companies abroad.

Osborne confirmed tax breaks for marriage and, linked with that, "Cameron on Cameron" confirmed the family as his overriding theme.

I had down those contrasting holiday photos: Cameron in his flowery Boden shorts and Brown in a jacket. Both posed, but both carrying a message.

Death of that Scottish Labour MP.

And surely the VP picks in the US presidential race and McCain drawing level in their polls? (you didn't say it was just UK).

Finally, I assume the Milliband challenge must have been (just) in July?

[Malcolm Dunn]

Good post Londoner,particularly over Corporation tax.Hopefully the economy will be the dominant subject in Conservative party thinking/announcements during the coming weeks. We'll see what George Osborne is made of then.

[Conand]

This blog seems to have it's very own device to undermine DC:

http://conservativehome.blogs.com/torydiary/2008/08/tory-members-ar.html

[Saltmaker]

Conand, would you rather read cameronhome.blogs.com?

[Conand]

This blog has to decide whether to represent the views of the whole movement or just social conservatives.
If it's purely going to be banging the drum for the right in these matters, then yeah I would rather read CameronHome.

[Tim Montgomerie]

Conand: the point of the poll results I published yesterday was to show that the 'libertarian paternalism' or 'nudging' statements made by frontbenchers enjoyed more support among party members than you would think by reading the right-wing blogosphere. That poll more closely represented the whole movement (at least within the Conservative Party), not just those who leave comments on blogs.

[hard working activist]

WE are still letting the Government's attack line on the economy go unchallenged.

"We are very well placed to weather the storm" sotto voce "because we put right the mess the Tories made". Very clever. Not true, but very clever, because, inexplicably, we have stopped hitting them with the debt stick.

"They failed to fix the roof when the sun was shining" was a brilliant verbal image and indefensible. Why did we stop using it? The public had barely heard it before we changed tack and started attacking them for being divided. That is Westminster Village stuff. A real turn off for the electorate.

Highest EVER debt in the G7/8.

Missed borrowing targets for 7, (or is it 8, now?) years.

Brown's Bust.

Please, get back on an agenda the public can understand and away from party political point scoring!

[Old friend of Tim]

If Tim is so opposed to giving a fair view to other perspectives why has he employed Jonathan Isaby? Mr. Isaby being a libertarian. QED.

[Tom H]

"That poll more closely represented the whole movement (at least within the Conservative Party), not just those who leave comments on blogs."

I wonder if the broad mass of the Conservative Party membership shares the unyielding belief in foreign interventionism that nearly all the CentreRight writers appear to adhere to.

I'd be curious to know how representative they are.