Opposition politics
- 4 Sep 07, 10:32 AM
Last night Team Cameron were toasting the end of the Brown bounce. This morning they were shouting at the radio as we reported the news of a former party chairman and deputy leader generating about division.
It's often said that it's a clear vision that binds parties together. The truth is less uplifting. The glue that binds them is sometimes anger at their opponents but more often is simply the prospect of power - or, to be more precise, the prospect of future patronage. This is particularly the case with David Cameron who, like Tony Blair, constantly berated his own party about the need to change.
The way politicians assess the prospect of power is by reading the polls. Thus, when David Cameron was riding high in the polls his party stayed loyal. Once he slipped, that loyalty fractured. Those divisions are damaging to, you guessed it, his poll ratings. And so it goes on - the vicious circle of opposition politics.
Political leaders can, of course, aid this process. Gordon Brown has ruthlessly used his patronage to tempt Tories to break ranks. The Tory Deputy Treasurer Johan Eliasch was offered a role advising on his passion - deforestation. It was all the more tempting senior Tories mutter since he was disappointed not to have been given a peerage.
Patrick Mercer, sacked by Cameron, was hired by Brown.
David Cameron may have made things worse by appearing to change strategy - to, in Labour's words, have "lurched to the right". He denies it but many in his own ranks believe it and welcome it. So, they think - no doubt Michael Ancram thought this - one more push and he'll harden the policy on tax (or Europe or selection or immigration). This creates division, which damages the polls, which... You've get the point.
The irony (Tories may use rather more colourful language) is that this comes on the day the Brown bounce seemed to have been squashed. Team Brown won't be too worried by that. They can cheer themselves up by simply watching their opponents.
