Monday 5th October 2009 | 14:09

Tories should strike a positive tone at conference

The Conservatives are advised to strike a positive overall tone at conference and focus on the theme of change. The Phi100 insider panel also analyse possible policies and attack lines.

The Conservatives should aim to make the overall tone of their Manchester conference optimistic and hopeful, while emphasising the theme of change, in the view of most MPs, journalists and other political insiders. 

That’s the latest result from the PoliticsHome Phi100 panel survey.  The Phi100 comprises senior MPs and peers from all the main parties as well as leading commentators, political editors, party strategists, think tank directors and academics. 

The panel were asked their views on Conservative strategy last week in the build up to the party conference. 

Fifty three per cent recommend an optimistic overall mood, compared to forty one per cent who think that the prevailing tone should be austere and realistic. 

Right leaning panellists clearly favoured an upbeat conference, while left-leaning panellists were split equally. 

Conference themes

‘Time for a change’ proved to be the theme that the politically balanced Phi100 panel thought it would be best for the Tories to emphasise. 

Fifty eight per cent of panellists chose this theme as one to emphasise.  (The panel were shown a list of possible themes and asked to choose up to three they believed it would be effective for the Tories to dwell on). 

The other themes and the level of support they received are shown below:

Attacks on Labour

In terms of specific attacks on Labour, it was thought best for the Tories to focus on the party’s long term record, and on Gordon Brown’s leadership in particular:

Headline policies

Finally, the panel were asked their view on whether the Conservatives could do with an eye-catching policy in order to counteract Labour’s attempts to characterise them as a cuts-obsessed party that favours the wealthy. 

The most popular idea was a new progressive tax that lifted a million low earners completely out of paying tax.  (However, only a quarter of right-leaning panellists supported this idea). 

Some panellists came up with their own suggestions.  A non-aligned thought leader said 'they should abandon [their policy on] inheritance tax but they won't'.

A media panellist said the party 'must back modestly paid strivers'. 

A second non-aligned panellist proposed the following:

Cameron should do something really counter intuitive to show that - unlike Brown and Balls - he's a one nation leader. He should praise some of the giants of Labour history like Bevin and Attlee. He should show he's a healer who wants to bring the nation together rather than create 'dividing lines.'