Imagine for a moment that you live in, I don’t know, let’s say Harlow. You’re not that interested in politics and you get the bulk of your news in 60 second bursts from Radio One, Magic FM or Talksport while driving to work.
What’s the Conservative message to you? Ignore the ins and outs of the policy or the people for a moment; Labour’s short campaign has done particularly well in this arena. They kicked off with an endorsement from a former Prime Minister who most people view favourably. The day after that they picked a fight with non-doms, one of Britain’s most unpopular groups. This morning, the news led with Labour’s announcement of a cut in stamp duty. The Conservatives, meanwhile, have a letter from 5000 small businessmen in the Telegraph.
The Labour message in the final days seems to be that if you vote for Miliband you’ll get some free stuff. The Conservative counter-offensive is that if you vote Tory, you won’t get Miliband’s free stuff. Come back to that Harlow voter for a second. Which party are you more inclined to vote for?
