By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter A week ago I feared the Budget was going to be a cautious affair but it doesn't look that way today. It looks like it might be the kind of supply-side Budget that Britain needs if it is to compete in the world. Allister Heath of City AM and Janan […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter Yesterday's FT Magazine featured a long profile of David Cameron by the newspaper's Political Editor, George Parker. It contained no great revelations – six-and-a-half years in to Cameron's leadership of the Conservative Party that would be a tough ask. It did crystallise something about Project Cameron for me, however. Many […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter He first said it on the Andrew Marr programme (some time before Nick Clegg came up with his Alarm Clock Britons wheeze) but in today's Sun on Sunday George Osborne has another go at explaining what is the best attempt, so far, at distilling this Government's purpose: "I have at […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter Earlier this week I set out a plan for shock-and-awe Budget tax cuts. I also promised some ideas on growth measures. I set these out in a short film for today's Daily Politics programme: While it's true that the Government is attempting many solid and important things (schools and welfare […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter There's a week to go until the Budget and I want to revisit my recommendation that George Osborne delivers a shock-and-awe package of tax cuts.
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter Read today's political news and you get a clear sense that Liberal Democrats are dominating the political agenda. That is because their spring conference is being held this weekend. Although not entirely positive for them, the free publicity has allowed Lib Dems the chance to own the debate about taxation […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter No-one loves this Government. It has no clear message other than deficit reduction, and attempts to offer one haven't worked. It stirs no enthusiasm among party activists: seats were empty for last year's Prime Ministerial conference speech. It has none of the natural communication with the strivers, battlers, Sid's […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter Tory strategists want voters to think of two words when they think of David Cameron: Strong and Fair. Voters already think Cameron is making the tough decisions. I don't have the exact figures to hand but a recent YouGov survey found that more than FIVE times as many voters think […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter The boundary review is incredibly important to Tory hopes at the next election. The reduction in the total number of seats from 650 to 600 will see the number of Tory MPs drop by 5 to 10 but the reduction in the number of Labour MPs (20 to 25) will […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter If the Lords gets a democratic mandate it will inevitably challenge the legitimacy and authority of the Commons. From an electoral point of view the first Coalition government since WWII is not going well for Nick Clegg. His party has lost two million left-leaning voters to Labour, probably for a […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter George Osborne has described this morning's news from Moody's as a "reality check". The ratings agency has put Britain on "negative outlook" and this means that there's a 30% chance that Britain could follow America and lose its triple A status. A few headline observations: Moody's have altered Britain's status […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter In an article for the Mail on Sunday I argue that people wanting to understand David Cameron need to understand that the defining feature of his defining years in politics has been defeat: "Norman Lamont walked in front of the nation’s cameras to announce that Britain was leaving the Exchange […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter The NHS was long the Conservative Party’s Achilles heel. David Cameron’s greatest political achievement as Leader of the Opposition was to neutralise health as an issue. The greatest mistake of his time as Prime Minister has been to put it back at the centre of political debate. Many Conservatives think […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter. I read columnists like Fraser Nelson and Iain Martin for analysis of what the Conservative Party should be doing. Other columnists are more interesting for accurately describing and interpreting what the Conservative Party is doing. Four columnists provide, in my view, the closest understanding of what's happening inside the […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. Today Conservative co-chairman Lord Feldman announced the creation of a new party: the Conservative and Unionist Party of Northern Ireland. The Party Board has approved plans for the new Party's creation. The Party will have a seat on the central Party Board, initially with observer status, but gaining full […]