Groundswell Of Support For Cameron And The Tories

[Deskdiary]

Is it me (it probably is) or does there appear to be a groundswell of support for Cameron and the Tories the closer we come to election day?

Are the 'undecideds' growing to realise that the economy, which is still wounded but getting better, in the hands of Labour is a terrifying prospect?

The papers this morning have all pretty much said Cameron won last night, even the Guardian has grudgingly said he did a good job, but that may have been because Milliband was savaged, particularly by the lady who asked the first question.

So, am I imagining it?

[naomi24]

1964? That’s over 50 years ago! I wonder what the Victorian political parties did?

Curious about the note, I did a bit of digging and happened upon this. (Edited from the internet).

//In 1964, Tory chancellor Reginald Maudling was faced with an economy in danger of overheating. He called it his "budget to maintain expansion without inflation"` and increased indirect taxes. But with no sweeteners and income tax remaining at 38.75%, Labour won the election.

James Callaghan [Labour chancellor] needed to raise cash in 1965 but had already put up income tax after the election to 41.25%, so opted instead for a new tax on companies called corporation tax.//

If Labour are victorious next week, history is very likely to repeat itself. Watch your wallets – and your jobs.

[Quizmonster]

Perhaps you haven't noticed, but an element of this thread has had to do specifically with how far back one needs to look at political matters. When one is in one's late seventies, 50 years ago is but a passing breeze!
The point is that Tories and/or their supporters are forever claiming (a) to be "the party of economic competence" and (b) that they invariably leave a booming economy which Labour goes on to wreck. I'll bet Maudling had "a long-term economic plan that was working", too, only it was no more effective than ANY of the economic promises Osborne made five years ago, all of which have turned to dust. No rise in VAT…Oops! Deficit wiped out by 2015…Oops! I could go on, but I’ll leave it there.

However, if you need something more recent than 1964, how about Black Wednesday? Yet another example of Tory economic incompetence though, obviously, I have no idea whether you are old enough even to remember 1992. They’d been in power for 13 years by then, so no way in the world to blame Labour for any “appalling legacy”.

The details of that day are well known, so I’ll just leave you with a link to a photograph (the top left one) of a shadowy figure lurking in the background as Norman Lamont faces the press. I’ll bet Lamont had “a long-term economic plan that was working”, too, and Cameron was his adviser and speech-writer!
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=lamont+black+wednesday+picture&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=CYNEVY-8L8LgaIOVgYgG

PS You may also not have noticed but the Tories have never done anything about cancelling the Corporation Tax Jim Callaghan introduced, so clearly they thought it was a wonderful idea!

[naomi24]

Quizmonster, Good article. Thank you for that, although I’m not entirely sure it supports your argument. As Lord Lamont says “One can only speculate how Tony Blair would have handled the situation had the events occurred under his premiership”, and he’s right in saying that Tony Blair’s Labour Party was “the beneficiary of tough Conservative economic policies”. It was. The Conservative government didn’t leave Labour an “appalling legacy” – they left a strong economy in incompetent hands – and next time around inherited an appalling legacy.

[jomifl]

What is silly about the opinion polls is that no figures are given for those that are undecided or won't say who they will vote for. They could well be the majority and their votes will decide the election.

[naomi24]

^That's true - but I think it's a given that those likely to vote Conservative are rather less vocal than the rest. The final result could prove surprising.

[jomifl]

Yes Naomi, every time labour get in they get the credit for spending the money that the tories were pilloried for saving. People have such short memories

[naomi24]

They do indeed.

[whiskeryron]

// There is a tendency in recent elections for the conservative vote to pick up just a bit in the last few days of polling as "shy Tories" finally come out of hiding. Goodness only know why you should feel shy to be a Conservative supporter, but there you have it. // The shy Tories are those who in their hearts know the undisputed Tory policy of keeping the working classes ''in their place'' & feel pangs of conscience that they themselves actually believe in the Victorian & Thatcher principles which so worked from their point of view of helping the rich to get richer whilst screwing the poor into the ground as much as they can.

[naomi24]

Ron, to paraphrase the spookily absent Mikey on these threads lately – what utter drivel! Those who think like that don’t seem to have noticed that old Labour is no more, that New Labour is not the party of the 'working man', and that times and people have moved on since the 1930s. I posted this on this thread yesterday, but since you seem to have missed it I’ll post it again.

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/shy-tory-voters-improve-labours-poll-performance-9988769.html

[DTCwordfan]

I managed to put down a fiver with William Hill for a Con majority @ 15 to 2 two weeks ago - thought that was a pretty good offer and that the odds would tighten as we come in. It's shortened a little, now 6 to 1.

[jomifl]

Whenever I fill in a questionnaire about my political leanings I always come out as a socialist, unfortunately a benevolent society which supports the poor and provides free education and health care needs an economy which works. To get that at the moment Britain needs a Conservative government as they seem to realise that borrowing money perpetually is not an option.