The local election results have been met with quiet grumbles from rank and file Conservative Party members, in a result made half-bearable by oddball Ed Miliband’s miserable performance at the ballot box. However the fact remains that Labour made serious and damaging gains into some key Tory bastions including London Boroughs such as Hammersmith and Fulham and my own stomping ground of Croydon.
Residents in these areas, who have enjoyed years of well managed finances, reduced Council Tax and good local government will find themselves stuck with Labour administrations which are itching to run up sky high debts and ruin all the hard work delivered over recent years.
Something is clearly wrong and the time has come for the Conservative Party to refocus on clear, core bread and butter issues that matter to working people, which is the only way to win a majority in 2015.
Despite clear improvements to the economy and rising living standards, the Conservatives are struggling to make breakthroughs with a core set of voters that are needed to win a majority. Part of this problem has been exacerbated by sloppy planning and a lack of engagement with the rising ethnic minority vote.
The assumption that simply selecting minority candidates for high profile seats will solve this problem is crass and totally underestimates the challenge ahead. The British people vote on values, not skin colour.
This means initiating genuine engagement programmes with these communities, including membership drives and community sessions to clearly communicate those core Conservative values of aspiration so as to win supporters and prevent minority voters choosing Labour by default, without any other options.
A recent poll from Lord Ashcroft also revealed that half of UKIP voters in the Local Elections were disenchanted Tories, a protest vote that ensured Labour victories in several key seats.
To see incompetent Labour politicians and, in my view, shameless political opportunists like scandal-prone Andrew Pelling elected into office and inflicted on the people of Croydon because the Conservative vote has been split by defectors is truly heart breaking…………. Read the full article at The Commentator
