Why can the Tories translate strong showings in national opinion polls into success at the ballot box?
Though the party high command will put on a brave face, Labour has been in the doldrums in the last six months, so why hasn’t that been reflected? There is a worrying precedent for this dislocation. Critics will point to the Bromley and Chislehurst byelection in June 2006. At the height of the excitement about Cameron, six months after he became leader, the Tories scraped home after an 11-point drop in support. ยท Was it wise of Cameron to throw his weight behind a maverick candidate? Daily Telegraph columnist Simon Heffer yesterday gave a taste of the criticism Cameron would face. “Mr Johnson is not a politician. He is an act … He is serving a very useful purpose for his party. It was decided, presumably by one of the advertising men who now control the Conservatives, that the only way to beat an act was with another, even better one. They certainly went to the right man.” The leadership will brush off criticism on this point because they believe Johnson is bound to perform better th
