Andy Coulson, the new Conservative head of communications, phoned the BBC over the weekend to remind them that David Cameron was in Witney visiting constituents caught up in torrential weather and asked why they were not covering this. The BBC said they were filming in the areas of England that had been most badly hit. In a move that surprised the Beeb, Cameron himself then phoned up wanting to know why he was receiving no coverage. It is quite unusual to have a call from a party leader. Cameron was clearly aware of the importance of having some footage of himself knee-deep in Oxfordshire rainwater before his visit to Rwanda.
On Sunday lunchtime, a senior Cameron aide having a less than enjoyable day said of Cameron’s trip to Africa: “He’s damned if he goes, damned if he doesn’t. Unless Witney is washed away he’s on a plane tonight.” Cameron went, although hours later the A4095 road was closed at Witney.
“No one can deny that the cause in Rwanda is an admirable one,” said a sympathetic shadow cabinet member, “but the timing is just wrong. Flood or no flood, why go away during parliamentary time when recess is a matter of days away?”
After a stormy week, there is much embarrassed reflection at Conservative campaign headquarters about how the Ealing Southall by-election turned into such an almighty cock-up and over the identity of the no-confidence letter writers. It has not been a good month for the ferret-like campaign manager, Grant Shapps, who is still facing a barrage of abuse from fellow MPs and party workers. Says a shadow minister: “Shapps is immensely pleased with himself for very little reason, overpromoted and inexperienced.” Another fan adds: “He overegged our chances by claiming huge successes at the beginning. It was political suicide.”
Shapps also appears to have upset the team around him. One member of the Ealing by-election ground team says: “Something as simple as placing a news story was beyond him. He took a very London-centric story that was perfect for the Evening Standard and insisted it was given to the Times. The resulting coverage was a pitiful few lines.”
How the Tories managed to select Tony Lit as their candidate is even more bizarre. As a member of the candidate selection team points out: “Without exception, every candidate at a selection interview is asked, ‘Have you ever done anything that, if it became known, would embarrass the Conservative Party?'” “He was young, he was dynamic, and he was new,” explains an Ealing Tory. Having been a member of the party for less than a week, he was certainly new. But for some the problem was not the comedy candidate. “Delivering literature with ‘David Cameron’s Conservatives’ is just odd,” says one MP. “It sounds a bit like ‘Linda McCartney’s Sausages’.”
Why has it all gone wrong? The Cameroons have discovered that being behind in the polls changes everything. Tory staffers predicted that there would be stirring and meddling between the Brownites and Blairites during Gordon’s first few months, but it simply hasn’t happened. They are seriously disgruntled that, at a time when there should be discontent, the Prime Minister is on the crest of a wave as his MPs adopt a discipline not displayed by certain Tories. “How come we still maintain this civil war?” asks one. “Have we learned nothing over the past 15 years?”
Failure to explain
Much has been made of the highly efficient team behind Cameron getting the message out. With Steve Hilton, Coulson and a plethora of advisers such as Zac Goldsmith and Bob Geldof, this was a finely tuned machine, created to avoid the mistakes of the past. “The headache is that we are seen to have very little product,” admits a researcher. “Blair had social justice and economic efficiency. Thatcher had ‘Stand on your own two feet’. Dave’s got ‘I’m nice’.”
There is also the challenge that Cameron’s Tory party in metropolitan London is seen by many Middle England grass-roots members as unrepresentative of the party they support. One constituency chairman says this is frustrating. “In constituencies like this one, members’ blood boils when they read we are allowing Brown to claim that the past ten years have been a success. We want Cameron to explain to people why the Labour government has failed. We do not get the impression that the drive for power is there.”
But Coulson’s first fortnight, dividing his time between headquarters and Cameron’s office in the Commons, has gone down well. A press officer who has witnessed numerous hyped heads of communications come and go says: “Andy is hands-on and holds daily meetings, but unlike the other ‘saviours’ of the past, he has not swept in and made huge changes. He’s quite subtle, and in a volatile atmosphere like this office, that is welcome.” It is wise of Coulson. For years now, staff at CCHQ have sat through presentations by countless David Brent-style, excitable new communications gurus who, with or without the aid of PowerPoint, have preached of a brave new world to little effect.
There has been much confusion over whether Cameron’s trusted aide and policy wonk George Bridges has decided to leave. When the rumours started circulating, not even his closest friends were able to confirm the truth in the whispers; there is talk of him not seeing eye to eye with colleagues. The reality is that he is off to get married and enjoy a lengthy honeymoon and is undecided about whether his future lies at party headquarters. As one of his friends says: “Escaping into the arms of a new wife and a blissful holiday must seem like a comforting prospect for George at this time. He’s utterly exhausted.” The party hopes that Brown’s honeymoon will be over before George returns from his.
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