Cameron's Silly PR Delay
by Graham Davies

Gordon Brown has run out of presentational cards. The "safe-pair-of-hands-in-a-crisis" card has been used too often. The "better-the-devil-you-know" card is just as unattractive to his own MPs as it is to the electorate.

With the Brown Beast at bay, Cameron should be presenting the Conservatives as being ready to fight an election at any time. He has tried a rather silly PR stunt instead: he has called for more people to apply for the Conservative Party Candidate's list. This is his way of saying that Fresh Faces my mean Fresh Politics.

It is a difficult and demanding process just getting on this list. And Cameron has not mentioned to the public that there are already more than 800 people on it. 100s more have now applied.

Of course, there could be several more Tory MPs that fall victim to Expenses Flu. But I am certain that there will be no more than a total of 25 Tory-held seats that will need to select a new candidate. Competition will be even more intense than it was before. I am also certain that none of those Constituency Associations will be remotely interested in selecting someone who has just decided that he has become interested in full-time politics within the last fortnight.

The influx onto the list has meant that some selections which were going to occur in May have been delayed to the Autumn, so as to give the newcomers chance to take part.

The bottom line is that Cameron's call for more people to join the game has had the effect of making his party less ready to fight an election. This is a bad mistake.