Portillo on The Task Facing David Cameron

A column on the Tory "recovery" ... by Michael Portillo:

The Tories like to think they are now where Labour was in, say, 1995, knocking on the door of government. The parallel simply does not hold. Labour had come within a whisker of winning the previous election, whereas the Conservatives were smashed for the third time in 2005, with Labour achieving a majority over the Tories of 157. The mountain that Cameron needs to climb is huge.

A crucial issue is whether the opposition looks ready to take over ... Today’s Tory team lacks strength in depth. George Osborne is good but not yet weighty. David Davis is substantial, but is not part of Cameron’s project to transform the party. David Willetts and Oliver Letwin lack any sort of common touch. There is no Campbell or Mandelson. There is no Norman Tebbit either. The Conservatives have yet to find a person or a device to attract back the working-class voters who were an essential part of Thatcher’s winning coalition.

Cameron will always be viewed as a toff, even though he communicates well with every group of voters. Without an unforeseeable breakthrough, the Conservatives cannot be sure of retaking Essex or the cities in Yorkshire and Lancashire that stuck with Thatcher.