The modernisation of the Tory Party is a myth - they are just pretending and giving it a try whilst they pursue their class interests. The Tories are generally politically thick, socialised into voting Tory and all their m class ignorance of and prejudice against w class life, trade unions, left politics is fed and reinfoced by the right wing media. Labour needs to politically educate the general m class to try to win them to the progressive m class. Modern Tories? - just read Tory MP for Shipley in his campaign for barbarism and a return to the death penalty recently visited Death Row in America and the creep even sat in the execution chair! Suppose you can fool some of the people - tax cuts for millionaires, cuts in corporation tax, tax cuts for private landlords multiple properties, private inroads NHS etc Same old Tories, same old nasty party but of course we now have a govt which is really A COALITION OF TORIES!

Cameron is such an oxymoron!

Dusty Bin

Say goodbye to your seat at the next election. No amount of slimey PR talk is going to cover over the awful mess you've made of our country in the name of greed and selfishness.

"...the war has not been won - indeed, arguably, we have gone backwards since 2010, particularly among public sector workers because of the painful decisions we have had to take to deal with the financial mess we inherited."

Might I suggest that it's this gutless, selective denial of responsible that the public sector workers see through? The policy direction your coalition government have taken were not, and never were, the only possible options available to it. Pretending that you have no choice convinced no one. A government with vision would have taken ownership of their decisions, and by arguing with conviction, sought to persuade others of their appropriateness.

This government, by contract, has become the master of blaming anyone and everyone for every "difficult decision" which you "inherited" (how revealing that word is!) You are far too keen to paint the public sector as lazy, inefficient, inert, a hotbed of vested interest. (Michael Gove is perhaps the most prominent example of this.) Yet those of us who work in the public sector know differently, see the damage that cuts are doing to the public services to which we dedicate so much of our time and energy, and feel the vulnerability of having our jobs threatened, our professionalism undermined and our working conditions eroded. Are you surprised that so few of us support you?

".....indeed, arguably, we have gone backwards since 2010, particularly among public sector workers”. No sh*t Gavin! I am a public sector worker and Gavin Barwell is my local MP. It is fair to say that a large number of his constituents are also public sector workers - the UKBA headquarters are in his constituency. Yet he has done diddly squat in representing his constituents who work in the public sector, when it has come to swingeing job cuts, attacks on pensions etc - he's just not been interested. In my experience he has merely towed the Conservative party line and has offered not one jot of support as a constituency MP. The public sector is hemorrhaging jobs in Croydon, but Barwell is wedded to the idea that the private sector will step in and create the jobs. Strange when you consider that firms like Nestlé’s are upping sticks and moving out of the town and unemployment is rising in this particular part of SE London. So Gavin is it any surprise that that public sector workers don't support your party? No - I thought not.

The most amusing bit of this article is a referance to the Tory party reaching out to public sector workers. There is nothing the Tory party has done tomake anyone who has ever worked in the NHS feel that they have any good intentions at all towards either NHS staff or patients. Tory policy on health is all about openning up markets for big business and to hell with anyone else.

How can the Tory party claim to have achieved true modernisation when on the recent debates over both equal marriage and Lords reform, the traditionalist bulk of the party appears to have come out all guns blazing in favour of perpetuated discrimination and closed-circle high politics respectively. If this Conservative Party has really moved decidedly into the 21st Century, then it could at least get the basics right: support for outnumbered minorities suffering discrimination and an impression of governing primarily in the interests of the many over the privileged few would be a good start.

The elephant in the room...

HOW HAS MASS IMMIGRATION BENEFITTED THE WHITE WORKING CLASSES??

This is why the Labour Government of 1997-2010 opened the borders to mass immigration....so they would reward Labour with their votes!

What's underpinning Tory 'modernisation' is the assumption is that the electorate are stupid. Changing policy around issues like lgbt rights is overdue but that doesn't mean rank and file Tories are happy with it.
On the surface they've tried to appear more acceptable. However, on central economic issues, distribution of wealth and employment opportunity and rights the Tories are clearly to the right of even Thatcher. The assault on disabled people is something even Thatcher didn't do also.
They are every bit as repulsive as Tories of the past just more flexible around issues outwith economic and employment policy.