Talking about immigration and Europe will detract from the Conservative party’s real strengths, Lord Ashcroft warned today.
The former Tory party treasurer said the “strong preference” for David Cameron as Prime Minister and the “greater trust” in the Tories on managing the economy were the party’s two biggest advantages.
According to his polling, the Conservatives have increased their lead on both issues over the past two years. But he said those points had come to matter less when voters were choosing between the two main parties.
In his end-of-year analysis, he added: “At the same time, immigration and Europe have grown in salience (partly, no doubt, because the Conservatives spend so much time talking about them). But the Tories’ lead on those issues has dropped (partly, no doubt, because they seem unable to do very much about them).
“Talking more about them without being able to act can only raise frustration with the main parties, highlighting the appeal of Ukip, and detracting from the Tories’ real strengths.”
Last week one of Ed Miliband’s closest aides, Lucy Powell, was at the centre of a storm over a memo advising Labour’s parliamentary candidates not to campaign on immigration and instead to seek to “move the conversation on”. The Labour leader has distanced himself from the document, as candidates said the party had to discuss the issues that mattered to voters.
Nancy Platts, Labour’s contender for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven, vowed to talk about immigration, while Matthew Pennycook, the candidate for Greenwich and Woolwich, reportedly said the party had not “engaged with people enough”.
