CONSERVATIVE PARTY leader David Cameron will today attempt to inject confidence into his party’s grassroots following opinion polls that show the Tory lead over Labour is shrinking rapidly.
The latest poll, in the Daily Telegraph, has the Conservatives five points ahead of Labour at 37 points – enough to give the Tories a slim majority.
Mr Cameron’s judgment, and by extension that of his party, has come under increased scrutiny following a series of blunders. These occurred with the use of statistics on knife-crime, teenage pregnancies, mixed messages on spending cuts and Mr Cameron’s blunder on marriage tax.
This weekend the Tory leader will speak in Brighton to several thousand leading Conservative grassroots representatives.
The Telegraphpoll is the latest showing the gap between the two big parties is narrowing. A YouGov poll put them six points apart – enough to give the Tories just 16 seats more than Labour.
However, Conservatives are putting their faith in their long-running and exceptionally well-funded campaign to target 100-plus marginal seats under the orchestration of deputy Tory chairman Sir Michael Ashcroft.
But leading Tory figures have become concerned at their failure to put distance between themselves and the Labour Party in recent months.
Tory MPs have complained for months that Mr Cameron operates with a core team of loyalists, including shadow education secretary Michael Gove and Steve Hitchins, to the exclusion of others.
This week, Mr Cameron held a rare, two-hour discussion on the political landscape with his shadow cabinet, which heard the views of nearly all present – something notable by its rarity under his leadership.
His poster campaign focusing on his commitment to the National Health Service was derided after it emerged that his photograph was air-brushed. The party is now erecting posters that don’t feature the leader.
In contrast, Tory MPs argue that Labour’s election slogan, “A Future Fair For All”, has struck a chord with voters.
Labour’s campaign chief, Lord Peter Mandelson, briefed the Cabinet on the party’s election plans this week. But it is clear Labour will be massively outspent by the Conservatives.
The UK’s first leaders’ debate in April could now have a significant bearing on the outcome of the campaign.
Mr Brown has come under pressure from some of his allies to call an early campaign, though this is opposed by others, including chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling, who has a budget to produce in March.
Mr Darling’s strategy has received a boost following new statistics which report that the UK’s return to growth in the last quarter was stronger than originally believed, reducing fears that it could slip back into recession before voters go to the polls.