Ashcroft blasts Tory election campaign
Leading Conservative donor Lord Ashcroft has launched a no-holds barred attack on the party’s election campaign, claiming voters had a “more negative” view of the party at the end of the campaign than at the beginning
In a 114-page pamphlet entitled “smell the coffee – a wake up call for the Conservative Party” – based on a large scale quantitative study drawing on 12 separate polls between November and May – the former Tory Treasurer berated the party for adopting a “fundamentally flawed”, “implausible and naive” election message which seemed to convey the idea that the party cared more for the “haves than have nots”.
Lord Ashcroft claimed the Tory party was presently so weak, it was in danger of being overtaken by the Liberal Democrats in the popularity stakes.
“People did not feel the Conservatives shared their aspirations or their priorities,” Lord Ashcroft argued.
Taking a swipe at the Tory campaign message, “are you thinking what we’re thinking”, Lord Ashcroft mocked that two thirds of voters had replied “no”.
Although Mr Howard led a “determined” campaign and restored discipline to the party, Lord Ashcroft said the outcome may have been different if Australian election strategist Lynton Crosby had been recruited earlier.
“Like the time it takes to change the course of a super tanker, the appointment of Lynton Crosby was too late to make a significant difference,” he said.
“To the extent that the voters who rejected us in 2005 associate the Conservative Party with anything at all it is with the past, with policies for the privileged few and with lack of leadership.
“We cannot hope to win a general election while this is how we are seen by people who should be our supporters.”
Not mincing his words, Lord Ashcroft said the likelihood of a Tory government within the next generation seemed remote indeed.
“The belief that the party was on the verge of winning an election seemed implausible, blinkered and naive.”
Former Tory co-chairman Lord Saatchi has also owned up to the party’s failings, saying the party failed to offer a single, memorable “iconic” policy to voters.
The peer blamed himself for missing his “once-in-a-lifetime chance to banish the repulsive gloom of a decade of electoral unpopularity”.
Lord Saatchi said senior Tories had obsessed needlessly over opinion polls, focus groups and adjudged the public “moronic”.
“This arises from the mistaken premise that the public, being moronic, can only appreciate a message if it is delivered by Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt.
“Whereas the reality is that elections are an intellectual battle and the winner is the one with the best arguments, not the prettiest face.”
