Go to TaxManGordon.com to play this CCHQ-commissioned version of the classic video game Pacman. Instead of evading multi-coloured monsters you have to avoid the Gordon Browns being churned out of No.10, and the 111 stealth tax rises he brings with him: "With the longest tax code in the world, try as you might you’ll never […]
A ConservativeHome.com survey of grassroots members provides plenty of advice for the Tory leadership as the party gathers in Blackpool: Grassroots members would like to see a manifesto that reduces taxation, increases prison places, increases funding for the armed forces, scraps ID cards and delivers English votes for English laws. Members disagree with Tory promises […]
A Populus poll for The Times gives Labour a 10% lead – nearly matching the YouGov survey for today’s Telegraph. I’m sure that Labour does have a real lead but opinion polls taken during party conference season can mislead. Last year in the weekend between the Tory and Labour conferences the main parties were both […]
Yesterday evening we highlighted James Purnell’s fake photo drama. ConservativeHome readers have found some more fake photos overnight…
According to another YouGov poll – for tomorrow’s Telegraph – Gordon Brown is maintaining the 11% lead that he won in the immediate afterglow of his speech to Labour Conference. Both major parties lose 1% to the LibDems compared to the YouGov/ Channel 4 survey. Here are the other main poll findings: 45% say that […]
Jeremy Hunt MP has described the position of his opposite number – James Purnell, the Culture Secretary – as "increasingly untenable" after it was revealed that he had agreed to have his image added to a photo of a hospital opening – to which he was late. The fake image can be viewed on the […]
That is what the TaxPayers’ Alliance is reporting on its blog. Matthew Elliott, Chief Executive of the TPA, greeted the leaked news with excitement: “Taxpayers across Britain will now look at David Cameron’s Conservatives in a different light following this announcement. Finally, voters can choose a party which will abolish this iniquitous tax. This is […]
A little earlier I posted a few thoughts on ‘next steps for modernisation’. I urged the party to keep emphasising its commitment to the public services; adopt a more achievable environmentalism; embrace the social and international justice reports of IDS and Peter Lilley; defend the rights of adult gay people; recruit genuinely diverse candidates; and […]
Later this afternoon I’ll post on ‘next steps for the core vote issues’ but here are a few thoughts on what, not particularly accurately, could be described as ‘moderniser or change issues’. Although I’m very glad to see the party ‘rebalancing’ it is important that the party does not retreat into the core vote territory […]
I’ve just attended an off-camera briefing at CCHQ (the Pankhurst Room) about the Party Conference. Here are the main points: Accreditation: All passes (except very late applications) have been cleared by the Lancashire Constabulary. Phew. More than 8,500 passes have been issued – the best attendance for five years. Slogan: "It’s time for change" is […]
Last night’s by-election results may produce further ammunition to those Labour ‘greybeards’ who are urging Gordon Brown to be cautious about an autumn General Election. We listed other risk factors on Monday. On the basis of yesterday’s results the Conservatives would have a 6.2% lead over Labour – a very different picture to the national […]
Owen Paterson MP is Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Following Shaun Woodward’s recent visit to the USA, I spent last week in Washington and New York promoting the Conservative Party’s important and continued role in the Northern Ireland peace process and to learn about American attitudes to the province. Sunday 16th September Most […]
Dana Peters, National Organiser for the Conservative Group for Europe, explains the organisation’s beliefs. The Conservative Group for Europe is presently the most active pro-EU movement in the party political scene. Founded over 30 years ago, the CGE exists to promote Britain’s active and positive membership of the European Union; a Europe built on Conservative […]
At least nine people have been killed during the latest Burma protests but the United Nations has failed to act. In an emergency meeting last night China and Russia defied calls from democracies, led by France, to punish the Rangoon regime through a variety of economic measures. Russia’s Ambassador to the United Nations – explaining […]
Nick Vaughan, a former Chairman of Conservative Future currently working for public affairs firm FD-LLM, overviews the challenges at conference. David Cameron’s Conservatives return to Blackpool distracted with speculation of an impending General Election coupled with Labour taking a surge in the polls – with thanks to what many political commentators have deemed as Brown’s […]