May won five per cent more of the vote than Cameron did two years ago. The margin between having a majority and not having one was performance in marginal seats.
Lord Ashcroft’s research suggests where the party performed poorly or badly on June 8: among women, younger voters and Remain supporters.
CCHQ and the Policy Board need to take a long hard look at our recent campaign, and work out what we can rapidly learn from it in terms of techniques and messages.
A serious proposal to address the crisis was given the false label “Dementia Tax”
Bit by bit and blunder by blunder, I watched CCHQ pull the rug from under our candidate.
We also suffered from CCHQ’s campaigning techniques. Only 50 per cent of our targets we planning to back us. We were knocking up Corbynites.
Despite the outcome, our manifesto was a step in the right direction, from which we must not retreat backwards.
The Party is damned if she goes quickly, and damned if she doesn’t. And, all the while, the threat of a no confidence challenge hangs over her head.
May understands Britain’s divisions, and has been working to address them. The campaign, however, failed to get her positive plan for the future across.
Today’s choice is between a woman who has grasped the scale and sweep of Brexit, and a man who has spent his entire career cuddling up to Britain’s enemies.
The Conservative Party has long been the natural home of libertarians and classical liberals. That relationship might be about to get less comfortable.
A free vote on repeal gives legislators the opportunity to review the impact of the fox hunting ban. No wonder the law’s supporters are nervous.
Theresa May’s philosophy has no cadre of committed supporters amongst the membership, MPs, or think tanks. It may thus prove short-lived.
As we write, the Conservatives are still set for a win on Thursday, but there is risk of further slippage – unless key voters can be persuaded that Corbyn will crash the car.
May’s view had no impact on the polls. It was only later after the Conservative manifesto was published that our poll numbers begun to deteriorate.