Norris faces up to task ahead
The Conservative Party has “it all to do” to win the next general election, former London mayoral candidate, Steve Norris, admitted yesterday.
Mr Norris’ comments came after a string of opinion polls showed no discernible sign of the opposition parties loosening Labour’s grip on power.
Conservative leader Michael Howard ended his party’s conference at Bournemouth this week with a pledge to restore and trust in politics.
But there was little sign of an immediate change of perception among voters and little evidence of a Bournemouth conference “bounce” for the Conservatives.
Despite a bruising for Tony Blair in the wake of the Iraq Survey Group report, which found no weapons of mass destruction under Saddam Hussein, Labour still sits pretty on the top of the pile in three weekend opinion polls.
Should the poll mirror results at the next general election, anticipated for May next year, the Blair government would win an historic third term of power, with a majority of 154 seats, just five fewer than its present total of 159.
Facing up to the task ahead, Mr Norris told BBC One’s “Breakfast with Frost”: “At this stage we have clearly got it all to do because you have got a government that is pretty thoroughly discredited that I can’t see doing anything else than substantially worse than they did last time.
“The real key for us is can we pick up on that real discontent with the Government and actually turn it to our advantage.
“The answer to that is clearly the jury is out. We have got to do a lot more to make sure people understand that there is an alternative, it is credible and it is more attractive.”
Labour has a nine-point lead over the Conservatives, according to an opinion poll for The Telegraph.
A Populus poll for the News of the World found just 24 per cent of voters backed Mr Howard, one point behind Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy on 25 per cent.
But Labour was “most trusted” to “do the right things on issues that matter most” and “to do what they’ll say they do.”
