The Conservatives’ focus on Farage is letting the LibDems, with all their contradictions, incoherence and 72 MPs, off the hook.
The party needs to restore its reputation for economic credibility, admit the damage done by Brexit – and support measures to move closer to the EU. It should be willing to be very critical of Donald Trump. And it needs to wholeheartedly make the case against Reform and Farage.
Could a combination of aggressive building in the south and greater devolution across the north have produced a more durable Conservative coalition?
Those who have their doubts or feel uncomfortable with this new potential Tory coalition must accept the political reality that the party needs these new supporters.
Obviously the membership don’t set the strategy. But one wonders whether the Party might find it challenging to redeploy activists from seats that it (and only it) officially deems ‘safe’ to campaign in its fantasy marginals.
The Conservatives need first to address a real perception problem: voters in these seats are twice as likely to say they associate the words ‘divided’ and ‘uncaring’ with the Tories than with Labour.
Nobody would be surprised if Bishop Auckland or Wolverhampton West returned to Labour. But if the Liberal Democrats beat Caroline Newton in Henley, doom looms for the Tories.
Hunt should raise his sights from South West Surrey, and focus on tax cuts that would bring the greatest relief to the greatest number.
Some constituencies could be challenging. But we have seen the back of a ‘progressive’ coalition in County Hall, comprising Liberal Democrats, Labour, and the odd Green Councillor.
Imagine it without any representation from Oxfordshire or Buckinghamshire, and only a handful of MPs from Berkshire and Surrey combined; still representing parts of Blackpool, Middlesborough and Walsall, but not Surrey Heath, Witney, or Wokingham.
Deliver on the economy, make life feel affordable, and ensure people can get a hospital appointment, and that 2019 coalition, might just be prepared to give the Tories a second look.
Census data may reveal once again that the UK has an ageing population, but in some ‘true blue’ Conservative seats, voters are only getting younger.
Denying the South East what it needs to grow and prosper with the misguided intention of being ‘fair’ to the rest of the country is detrimental to all in the end.
More unites these two voter groups than commentators suggest. The Government should be confident in crafting a message that appeals to both.
It will take more than a few gimmicks or tinkering with National Insurance to win back the trust of working-age voters and reverse the current, existentially-dangerous trend.