Recommendation 12: I've saved what I think is ConservativeHome's most important recommendation for last... It is very difficult to see the Conservative Party winning a parliamentary majority without reducing the number of Liberal Democrat MPs. There is little sign of the Conservative Party unseating the fifteen to twenty-five LibDems that is probably going to be necessary. That is not to say that David Cameron hasn't done a number of things that will make the task easier. Candidates like Philip Morton and Jesse Norman are being selected early in LibDem-Tory marginals. The gentler, greener Conservatism of David Cameron will reassure those 'Waitrose voters' who left the party for the LibDems. Lord Ashcroft's marginal seats operation will ensure better targeting of limited resources. But I still do not think that this is going to be enough. The best way of defeating the LibDems will be to convince the electorate that (1) only a Conservative government will rid Britain of Labour and (2) that Labour deserves to be ousted. Any vote for another party - be it the LibDems, the Greens or UKIP - will risk Labour staying in office or could result in a messy hung parliament. 'A Liberal Vote Is A Wasted Vote' was one of the Conservative Party's most powerful slogans in the 1960s and 1970s. We need a modern , creative equivalent of that message and it needs to feature prominently in all of our election literature, party political broadcasts and emails.
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