Political Edge
As a rule, Leaders of the Opposition tend to fall into one of two categories; either they find themselves pathetic and weak against a wildly popular government, or they seem to be so pragmatic and sensible that the public find themselves wondering why they didn’t elect them in the first place.
David Cameron and the Conservatives have recently been falling into the latter of these categories. Their comments about Labour’s lack of vision, poor leadership and terrible economic planning, all seem to be ringing true. Cameron has the look about him of a man that knows that the next election is in the bag. The only question in the minds of most Conservatives is, by how much will they win?
And yet, is it really fair to assume Labour is dead in the water? In a poll published by the Guardian newspaper last week, 43% of people trust Labour to solve the credit crunch, the largest group. Compare that to just 35% for the Tories, and their lead isn’t as concrete as they may think. Sure, they’re still ahead overall, but for the first time in months, it’s a lead that can be measured in single figures.
True, it seems that the Labour party have been having a rough time since Blair’s departure. The past year has seen a plague of mistakes; data losses, unpopular counter terrorism bills, the failure of the economy, and the party’s lack of vision. It all seems to have been mounting up against Brown and, in many ways, it’s almost safe to assume the Conservatives could do nothing between now and the next election and still win with a huge majority.
Nevertheless, the results of the poll will be viewed as good news by the Labour leadership, particularly given that the result comes at the end of a year where public spending has nearly doubled, including a myriad of unpopular bailout packages for the private sector. Perhaps this could act as a reminder to the Conservatives – criticise if you will, but it’s not all about how you deal with the crisis. Sometimes it’s how decisive you seem that really counts. For the first time since taking power, Brown seems in control, informed and practical. Alarm bells are ringing in the Tory camp this autumn – put away your false confidence my friends, at least for the moment. The fight’s not over yet.
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