Tories keep their powder dry for a 2010 election
Like Labour’s in Birmingham a fortnight ago, the overall tone of the Conservative Party Spring conference in Gateshead this weekend has been pretty low-key.
Tory strategists say they are not expecting an election until 2010 — they argue that Gordon Brown might want an 2009 contest but will be constrained by a deficit in the polls and an economy that in all likelihood will still be reeling from the global credit crunch.
So there’s been little in the way of substantive new policies this weekend.
Better to keep their powder dry until an election looks closer on the horizon.
Party leader David Cameron instead put the focus of the conference on casting the Conservatives as the party of the family.
“We’re doing very well with older people, but we need to win over the 30 to 40-somethings,” one shadow Cabinet member told me at the futuristic Sage Gateshead conference centre.
He predicted 2008 would be a year of consolidation for the Tories rather than containing any new dramatic turns.
Both main parties would have to see how the ongoing turmoil in financial markets hits the real economy.
Labour also appears to be shying away from any big ideas for now.
Chancellor Alistair Darling’s budget this week was widely derided as boring, though he would argue that stability is key at a time when the economy is being buffeted by a global storm.
The Conservatives say Darling was boring because he didn’t have any money to play with.
But they’ve not really said what they would do themselves, beyond a vague, long-term commitment to tax cuts.
With the polls volatile, both parties are now scrapping for the same centre-ground with micro-measures targeted at particular groups.
It will take some bold ideas before either can pull away and be certain of victory at the next election.
You can see what Shadow Chancellor George Osborne had to tell my colleague Tim Castle about possible tax cuts under a future Tory government here and the Northern Rock rescue here .
