Let’s learn from the Tories and detoxify our brand

[Hopeless Romantic]

There has been much debate since the general election last May as to whether the continued toxicity of the Conservative brand lead to them falling short of an overall majority. Proponents of this theory hold that whilst David Cameron had gone some way in detoxifying the Conservative brand he had not gone far enough. The result was that although the public had decided that they certainly didn’t want a Labour Government they hadn’t yet decided that they wanted a Conservative Government.

If this was the case, and I suspect that it was, then this latent brand toxicity remains a problem for Team Cameron. The Government is currently being defined by one (economic) policy – cuts. Everything it does and says is, however unfairly, seen through that prism. Welfare reform – driven by cuts; public service reform – driven by cuts; Big Society – masking cuts. No matter how hard he tries David Cameron simply can’t seem to get any other story up about what his Government is for or its vision. The danger for him is that this economic argument will feed the toxicity of their brand. Notions of the Conservative Party as ‘out of touch’ and being the ‘nasty Party’ will once again come to the fore; something the Cameroons know would be hugely problematic. And of course the truly shambolic approach to communications management to date from Number 10 certainly doesn’t help! The recent expansion of the Number 10 Team and the addition of the respected pollster Andrew Cooper in particular to the Cameron Team, seem to indicate that the Prime Minister recognises the danger.

So Team Miliband should rightly be pleased. The Government has had a torrid time since the new year and is failing to project a vision. Instead it is beginning to inadvertently reawaken deeply held concerns amongst the public about their true motives for the choices they are making. Meanwhile Labour is regularly polling double digit leads. But there are lessons in this for Labour which itself has a highly toxic brand.

We lost the general election because we were seen as being arrogant and out of touch. We lost because we were seen as being economically illiterate and having massively overspent. And we lost because we were seen as being in favour of top down big government. If we are to win the next election we clearly need to detoxify our own brand. However it is not clear that we have as yet fully appreciated just how toxic and unpopular we had become. The recent travails of the Government, our riding high in the polls and by-election wins have masked this. In reality not much has changed that will fundamentally begin our necessary brand detoxification. What has happened of course is that internally we have convinced ourselves that we are becoming popular. The odd apology here or there and we will be ok.

more

http://labour-uncut.co.uk/2011/02/21/let%E2%80%99s-learn-from-the-tories-and-detoxify-our-brand/

[non sociopath skin]

1. Good piece with a lot of sense in it ...

... just so long as Miliband and Balls don't contemplate doing a Blair and seeing some of the Condems' crazy ideas on "rolling back the state" as "received wisdom" once they're in place.

Unlike Thatcher, Cameron and Clegg have no mandate for what they're doing.

The Skin

[TheBigotBasher]

2. All the Parties were toxic at the last election

and really remain so. At least to me and I still remain none of the above.

The "overspending" was not an issue as all Parties promised hell (the Lib Dems were the only ones to partially spell that out but neither they or anyone else thought they would be a part of government, although it was reasonable to expect them to hold the balance of power. The Tories are able to hide behind the coalition in terms of cuts as they themselves are not being called on for their own direct support of that overspending. Something they had initially committed themselves to.

To me it was the increasingly authoritarian nature of Labour, ID cards, 42 days, all leading up to the Digital Economy Bill which smacked of the worst aspects of bought and paid for US style legislation.

They ignored people who had not or could not get on the property ladder and as a result created the widest shift of wealth from younger to older people in history with no chance of that ever being rebalanced. That was not economic incompetence it was a deliberate policy intention to create artificial wealth through property prices. The man responsible is now back at the helm of Labour economic policy.

Theresa May or May not is hardly any different to Jack Boots Smith. If it gives pleasure ban it. Ask questions later. Clarke appears to be the most liberal Justice Secretary since the position was created, in part because of of his real maverick status (thank you John Mccain for ruining that word) and his need to please the Chancellor.

You can of course add on the whole unnatural and weird link with Neo Cons across the pond which to many will never be forgiven.

Labour was never supposed to be about a gradual progression towards a police state, that stuff should have been left to the arms out brigade wing of the Conservative Party.

Labour is not now popular, the Liberal Democrats are just more toxic. They face the poll losses, with no penalty for Cameron at all. The Cuddly Conservative part of the manifesto was shredded as a result of the coalition, they or may not have done that themselves but they would have been politically accountable for it.

Labour needs to get back to their roots, they need to ask themselves what does being the Party of the modern, common man mean and deliver on it.