Cameron responds to Miliband
The atmosphere at the Conservative party conference was heavily influenced by Ed Miliband’s speech the previous week, particularly his narrative around the cost of living crisis and the controversial energy price freeze he announced. The Conservatives’ strategy to make the government’s austerity measures, and the now seemingly resulting economic growth, central to the 2015 general election campaign has been all encompassing in recent months. However, Miliband appears to have forced the Conservative party to change course, even if only a little, with the Help to Buy scheme being brought forward and the announcement of a possible fuel duty freeze until the next election.
With the theme of the conference being ‘for hardworking people,’ David Cameron targeted the votes of pretty much everyone in his closing speech, apart from perhaps under 25-year olds, many of who will likely lose either benefits or the luxury of choice as part of his “earning or learning” idea. Cameron made the case that Conservative policies are for all, and ‘no one will be left behind’ and “as a land of opportunity”, the Conservative party should itself be given the opportunity to ‘finish what we’ve started.’ He particularly appealed to the business community, highlighting the ‘traditional Tory value’ of low tax and by stating that profit is not a dirty word.
Overall, there was much for the Conservative party faithful to be pleased with from this conference. Osborne’s and Cameron’s speeches were filled with patriotic pride, a reminder of what the Conservative party stood for and a jaunt through the party’s successes in government. Nevertheless, there appeared to be a lack of wow-factor policy wise, and there remained a feeling that perhaps Miliband’s performance had overshadowed this conference. The Labour narrative around the cost of living crisis is also perhaps causing a few more problems for the Conservatives than foreseen. There does appear now to be clearer water between the two main parties, though Labour still have much to do in terms of policies. But there are now two different visions starting to emerge as choices for the electorate come 2015.