The biggest mistake made by the Tory leadership has been to conclude that the Left’s social agenda represents the centre ground. While this might be the message they are receiving from the focus groups, that is only because voters are not being offered a coherent and convincing alternative world view on which to make a considered judgment. When decisive action is taken that does not conform to the way things have been done for years, the voter response is telling. It is no coincidence that the one time the Conservative vote rose above 40 per cent in the past year was when David Cameron opted out of the EU fiscal pact agreed last December.
Wouldn’t it be good to hear John Key stand up and give a speech told us what he actually stands for. And not something Farrared to death with research, just providing a convincing argument for a major policy change that he believes in.
