Why does lightweight Britain want a heavyweight?
Cameron’s Conservatives thought Britain would be turned off by ‘boring’ Brown – but who can blame them?
David Cameron has made a grievous mistake. Whatever the right-wing press might argue, it wasn’t the infamous ‘hug a hoody’ speech. And it certainly wasn’t ‘abandoning’ his Witney constituents during the July floods. The mistake – and one which Cameron may never recover from – was to underestimate Gordon Brown.
From his 2005 inception, Cameron focused firmly on the Prime-Minister-to-be. His tactic was to style himself as more accessible, more humorous and, ultimately, more normal than the number-crunching Chancellor. He, like the Tory strategists, was convinced that ‘heavyweight’ Gordon Brown would prove to be indigestible to the British public. If Cameron was to battle him on the centre ground, the solution was to leave all baggage behind.
But, in the light of the July polls, their predictions seem idiotic. Indeed, A Tory friend of mine remarked that, as far as Conservative misjudgments go, underestimating the new Prime Minister is up there with Black Wednesday. But isn’t that a little unkind? After all, there was – and, arguably, still is – plenty of evidence to support Cameron’s thesis.
This week, George Bush (a man who can only dream of a ‘heavyweight’ reputation) couldn’t contain his surprise that the new Prime Minister was not the ‘dour Scotsman’ he had been portrayed as. Last year, George Osborne famously joked that the then Chancellor might be autistic. In any other arena, Brown’s devastating intellect would be admired. But, in British politics, the word ‘heavyweight’ became a quasi-euphemism. Brown’s intelligence was seen as a sign of abnormality.
And the transatlantic right weren’t the only ones labouring from this misjudgment. Last month, the BBC unveiled their strategy to get more people watching their news bulletins – to streamline them down to sixty seconds. Meanwhile, the Corporation’s recent budget reports have often been accompanied by patronising cartoon graphics. And, over in the blogosphere, isolated academics have bemoaned the lack of intelligent comment, and highlight the rise in quirky captions and caustic sarcasm.
July’s polls haven’t just shaken Cameron’s Conservatives – they’ve challenged the popular perception of politics. Call it what you like – spin, dumbing down, soundbite politics – but it might soon be a thing of the past. For, whatever the media savvy once predicted, ‘lightweight’ Britain is hungry for a heavyweight.
Cameron’s Conservatives thought Britain would be turned off by ‘boring’ Brown – but who can blame them?
David Cameron has made a grievous mistake. Whatever the right-wing press might argue, it wasn’t the infamous ‘hug a hoody’ speech. And it certainly wasn’t ‘abandoning’ his Witney constituents during the July floods. The mistake – and one which Cameron may never recover from – was to underestimate Gordon Brown.
From his 2005 inception, Cameron focused firmly on the Prime-Minister-to-be. His tactic was to style himself as more accessible, more humorous and, ultimately, more normal than the number-crunching Chancellor. He, like the Tory strategists, was convinced that ‘heavyweight’ Gordon Brown would prove to be indigestible to the British public. If Cameron was to battle him on the centre ground, the solution was to leave all baggage behind.
But, in the light of the July polls, their predictions seem idiotic. Indeed, A Tory friend of mine remarked that, as far as Conservative misjudgments go, underestimating the new Prime Minister is up there with Black Wednesday. But isn’t that a little unkind? After all, there was – and, arguably, still is – plenty of evidence to support Cameron’s thesis.
This week, George Bush (a man who can only dream of a ‘heavyweight’ reputation) couldn’t contain his surprise that the new Prime Minister was not the ‘dour Scotsman’ he had been portrayed as. Last year, George Osborne famously joked that the then Chancellor might be autistic. In any other arena, Brown’s devastating intellect would be admired. But, in British politics, the word ‘heavyweight’ became a quasi-euphemism. Brown’s intelligence was seen as a sign of abnormality.
And the transatlantic right weren’t the only ones labouring from this misjudgment. Last month, the BBC unveiled their strategy to get more people watching their news bulletins – to streamline them down to sixty seconds. Meanwhile, the Corporation’s recent budget reports have often been accompanied by patronising cartoon graphics. And, over in the blogosphere, isolated academics have bemoaned the lack of intelligent comment, and highlight the rise in quirky captions and caustic sarcasm.
July’s polls haven’t just shaken Cameron’s Conservatives – they’ve challenged the popular perception of politics. Call it what you like – spin, dumbing down, soundbite politics – but it might soon be a thing of the past. For, whatever the media savvy once predicted, ‘lightweight’ Britain is hungry for a heavyweight.
5 comments:
"He, like the Tory strategists, was convinced that ‘heavyweight’ Gordon Brown would prove to be indigestible to the British public. If Cameron was to battle him on the centre ground, the solution was to leave all baggage behind."
A cogent analysis indeed, welcome to the bloggosphere. Run while you can. ;o)
This attitude is ultimately scornful of the very electorate upon which the conservative party rely, or at least seek to. The only reason anyone ever voted for Labour, so they would contend, is because the british public is obsessed with the trivialities of spin and little else.
A niceshine doesn't go amiss, but the public can tell when there is no real substance on offer. With a few notable exceptions (1992, anyone?) they have also been able to see whne that substance is undesirable.
Cameron is screwed. He has no policies, and those meagre ones at which he has arrived are little more than a retreat on is part to the conservatism of Hague and Howard.
Actually, the publicvoted for Labourbecause they wanted a change from exactly that. Unless Cameron realises this to be true, his project to take the centre is doomed to fail.
"David Cameron has made a grievous mistake..to underestimate Gordon Brown."
Spot on. Gordon has managed to seize the moment and capture the mood of the nation. One that's fed up of shiney spin, and celebrity politics and one that's ready for substantial policy and statemanlike behaviour.
Good luck with the blog!
Cameron was selected by the Tories to be the 'heir to Blair'.
He was polling best when he was playing Blair at his own media game, petting huskies and flying the St George from his bicycle.
Unfortunately for the Tories the electorate are very tired of pop star politics and are welcoming Brown, who they rightly see as a true statesman
How many more swings of the clunking fist can Cameron take before he ends up on the ropes and someone from the Cornerstone Group challenges him?
deft analysis of the current "dumb and dumber" climate in which we seem to live in and i really like how you relate this back to the "smiley face competition" that people were so scared that gordon would lose. with intellectual inspirations, like john redwood and IDS, i certainly wouldn't be smiling if i was cameron!
Thanks for writing this.
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