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2 May 2013

The Sun puts Cameron on notice as it fails to back the Tories

For the first time in its history, the paper refuses to endorse any party for the local elections.

By George Eaton

“It is my job to see that Cameron f****** well gets into Downing Street”. So the Sun’s political editor Tom Newton Dunn is said to have declared in 2010. But three years on, the paper isn’t so well disposed to the Tories. Rather than casting its vote for Cameron’s party, the tabloid has chosen to abstain. Its leader states:

The Sun is not going to tell you how to vote today

From our very first paper, 44 years ago, we have always remained politically independent.

We have never served any set party — and we never will.

Sometimes we endorsed Labour or the Tories at election times.

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But today, as 18 million people have the chance to elect new local councils, none of the big four deserves our support.

Tories, Labour, Lib Dems and yes, even UKIP, have all proved beyond your trust.

It adds that while the Conservatives “should be the best at getting value for your pound”, too many of their councils have “defied the PM’s demand to freeze council tax for struggling workers. That is unacceptable”. 

After Rupert Murdoch’s recent meeting with Nigel Farage, the paper praises the UKIP’s leader’s “plain talking” but goes on to say that “little of it really stands up as proper thought-through policy” and asks: “how can you trust a chaotic mob that mistakenly puts forward so many fruitcakes and extremists?”

Just like some of those who will vote UKIP today, the Sun is likely to return to the Conservative fold before 2015 but the leader is a notable warning to Cameron. The paper is furious at his decision to cave in to Labour over press regulation and dismayed by the weakness of Britain’s economic recovery. The leader that follows its non-endorsement is a typical example. 

David Cameron said the Tories were on the side of “start-ups, go-getters, risk-takers”.

“What drives us mad,” the PM declared, “is the bureaucracy, the forms, the nonsense getting in our way.”

Yet two years on, small businesses – the lifeblood of Britain – are still being strangled by red tape.

It’s no wonder one in three fail within their first three years.

As they die, so does the recovery.

The days when the Sun had any significant influence on the outcome of general elections are over (if they ever existed) but a refusal to endorse the Tories in 2015 would still be viewed as a significant blow to Cameron. Two years out from the election, the paper has served the PM a warning: don’t take our support for granted.

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