DOCSLIB.ORG

The Computers That Crashed. and the Campaign That Didn't. the S

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Computers That Crashed. and the Campaign That Didn't. the S (http://www.conservativehome.com) Search the site ESET INTERNET SECURITY - ESET® New Security Features for 2017. 25% Off 2-Year License - Buy Today! (http://www.conservativehome.com/frontpage/2017/03/newslinks- 2017.html) Published: June 16, 2015 51 comments The computers that crashed. And the campaign that didn’t. The story of the Tory stealth operation that outwitted Labour last month By Mark Wallace (http://www.conservativehome.com/author/mark-wallace) (http://www.stopthefobts.org/) Follow @wallaceme 22.1K followers Gamblers urged to take part in Flutter-Free February (http://stopthefobts.createsend1.com/t/ViewEmail/r/991A06EDDA7146F92540EF23F30FEDED) (http://stopthefobts.createsend1.com/t/ViewEmail/r/991A06EDDA7146F92540EF23F30FEDED) SUBSCRIBE (HTTP://WWW.STOPTHEFOBTS.ORG/TAKE- ACTION/) (https://www.facebook.com/stopthefobts) (https://www.twitter.com/stopthefobts) (http://conhome.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Screen-shot-2015-06- Highlights Latest Comments 16-at-07.33.47.png)The event: the annual Conservative Conference. The place: Birmingham. The year: 2012 – three years before the 2015 election in which David The NICS bungle has exposed a Cameron pulled off the biggest surprise win in modern times. This was the venue for weakness. This is not a strong the presentation by Stephen Gilbert, the Prime Minister’s Political Secretary, which Cabinet. outlined the strategy that – not without its hiccups and problems – was delivered on (http://www.conservativehome.com/thetorydiary/2017/03/a-brutal- the ground and made victory possible. truth-in-the-nics-aftermath-this-is- Speaking in a closed session to senior not-a-very-good-cabinet.html) activists, Gilbert set out the programme for March 16, 2017 the Tory Stealth Win that was painstakingly effected beneath the radar of Labour, the Yes, it’s Gove v Portes in a brutal media – and indeed the pollsters. Brexit rematch – but where’s the blood? What was it and how did it work? The Related Articles (http://www.conservativehome.com/thetorydiary/2017/03/yes- Conservative air war was visible for anyone its-gove-v-portes-in-a-brutal-brexit- to follow – the assault on Labour’s fiscal Andrew Kennedy: How an rematch-but-wheres-the-blood.html) credibility, the image of a weak Ed Miliband Association turned from a loser into March 16, 2017 being propped up by a strong SNP, the a winner starkly-drawn dividing lines on such as (http://www.conservativehome.com/thecolumnists/2017Daniel Hannan:/03/andrew- Brussels, not May, is welfare reform and the deficit. These kennedy-how-an-association- being inflexible headline messages certainly played a large turned-from-a-loser-into-a- (http://www.conservativehome.com/thecolumnists/2017/03/daniel- part in delivering the Conservative majority. winner.html) hannan-brussels-not-may-is-being- We are less familiar, though, with this other Interview: David Burrowes, inflexible-on-brexit.html) reason for the election result. The occasional rebel, constant Christian March 16, 2017 disproportionately good results in the – and a backbench force to be marginals – both those the Tories needed to reckoned with Joe Ray: Scottish Leavers could hold hold and those they needed to gain – are a (http://www.conservativehome.com/highlights/2017/03the key to sinking/interview- Sturgeon’s dream testament to the success of the 40/40 david-burrowes-occasional-rebel- of independence strategy. The Liberal Democrats were constant-christian-and-a- (http://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2017/03/joe- devastated, despite their supposed backbench-force-to-be-reckoned- ray-scottish-leavers-could-hold-the- incumbency advantage in the seats they with.html) key-to-sinking-sturgeons-dream-of- held, with more of their voters moving to the independence.html) Is Putin’s Russia an enemy or ally? blue column than most had expected. In Please take our monthly survey. March 16, 2017 many seats, it also seems the Conservatives (http://www.conservativehome.com/thetorydiary/2017/03/should- were not only more effective at hanging onto there-be-a-snap-general-election- The Article 50 letter: keep it short and their voters and winning over former Liberal take-our-monthly-survey.html) simple Democrats, but were also more successful in (http://www.conservativehome.com/thetorydiary/2017/03/the- wooing UKIP voters than Labour. Andrew Kennedy: Our findings on article-50-letter-keep-it-short-and- whether the mass of new Party A good national campaign might have been a simple.html) members who joined post- precondition for success in such seats, but a March 15, 2017 referendum will renew strong ground war was essential to delivering (http://www.conservativehome.com/thecolumnists/2017/03/andrew- such good results. Three years ago, “the kennedy-our-findings-on-whether- 40/40”, Team 2015, VoteSource and the-mass-of-new-party-members- RoadTrip2015 weren’t even gleams in who-joined-post-referendum-will- Cameron’s eye. Yet each came to play a renew.html) crucial role in deciding the future of the country, defying almost everyone’s Rebecca Lowe Coulson: Copeland, expectations and securing a historic result. Stoke, elections – and my coolness about cold-calling Today, we tell for the first time the story of (http://www.conservativehome.com/thecolumnists/2017/03/rebecca- that ground war – how the strategy came lowe-coulson-copeland-stoke- about, who controlled it, and how it worked elections-and-why-i-am-cool-about- in practice. cold-calling.html) Lessons from 2010 Despite the glow of the Downing Street garden setting at that first press conference, the 2010 election was not an unalloyed success. Up against the worst Prime Minister for years, on the back of a financial and fiscal crisis and led by Cameron, whose poll ratings had long been more favourable than those of his party, the Conservative Party had failed to win a majority. There had been serious problems with the national messaging – as Steve Hilton has recently acknowledged (http://conhome.wpengine.com/thetorydiary/2015/05/steve- hilton-policy-guru-thinker-would-be-revolutionary-mp.html) – but there were also problems with the ground campaign. After years of a decline in membership, and near-extinction in some areas where the Conservatives ought on paper to have been competitive, the party’s line regiments were variable at best. Institutional knowledge, experience and enthusiasm were combined in some strong Associations, who continued to make do more with fewer people, but in other seats, even where there were people ready and willing to campaign, the tactics and techniques being used were either outdated or held back by the loss of experience, in the wake of the death or departure of older members. Some seats saw stellar swings based on a combination of good candidates and good campaigning – but others fell far short of even the national average Tory swing. It took time for CCHQ’s gaze to move on to the next election. The initial throes of coalition had to be navigated, it lost many of its staff to Government as Special News Tweets Advisers, and others departed for the private sector. A Twitter list by @PaulGoodmanCH It’s also fair to say there was little sense of urgency to review what went wrong – after PoliticsHome all, the Conservatives were back in government, albeit not with the majority which @politicshome many had been led to hope for. Labour claims credit for Tory Budget But by 2012 – at roughly the time of Sayeeda Warsi’s replacement as Party co- U-turn amid fresh row over Jeremy Corbyn 'incompetence' bit.ly/2m0ClDC Chairman by Grant Shapps – CCHQ was once again looking forward. It was being comprehensively restaffed and, crucially, the “omnishambles” budget had occurred. It was a wake-up call for the Tory machine. Conservative poll ratings had taken a nosedive and, for the first time, it began to seem plausible that Ed Miliband might be Prime Minister in 2015. The task of getting CCHQ into shape was beginning to look more challenging. Simultaneously, new tactics were being used in the US presidential election which sharpened the sense at the top of 58s the Party that the Tories were lagging behind on the practice of political campaigning. The seats – and targeting Matthew Elliott Retweeted Legatum Institute It was in the summer and autumn of 2012 that the 40/40 strategy was born. When @LegatumInst Gilbert briefed Party members on the plan Senior Fellow @matthew_elliott will be (http://conhome.wpengine.com/majority_conservatism/2012/10/conservative-hq- on Sky with @adamboultonSKY at briefs-tory-members-on-its-battleground-strategy.html) in Birmingham, it sounded 10.45 then @daily_politics at 12.20 on deceptively simple. The campaign would focus on defending 40 Conservative-held seats and attacking 40 others then held by Labour and the Liberal Democrats. Embed View on Twitter The seeds of the scheme lay in close analysis of the 2010 results. Even then, there were signs that good ground wars had defied the problems caused by the faltering air war. As Tim Montgomerie wrote at the time: “The Conservative Party now feels it has a better ground operation than Labour. It points to the fact that it won 23 more seats at the last election than it should have done if the national swing towards the Tories had been evenly spread across the whole country.” Like Page Sign Up That factor saved the Conservative bacon in 2010: what if it could be extended Be the first of your friends to like this and deployed, in addition to a more effective air war? Rather than simply stemming a red tide, Gilbert and others believed, it could produce a Tory majority. By the time of Shapps’s appointment, the analysis and development of this idea was ConservativeHome underway, and the new Chairman and the Prime Minister agreed with the campaign 38 mins team’s conclusions.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 1 Summary of Findings from Report Commissioned by the Conservative
    Summary of Findings from Report Commissioned by the Conservative and Unionist Party from Clifford Chance into Allegations of Bullying, Harassment and Inappropriate Behaviour and into the Knowledge of and Response to those Allegations by Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) The Party, on 8 December 2015, commissioned Clifford Chance LLP (CC) to conduct an independent investigation and report to the Conservative Party Board. This document sets out the findings of that report (the Report). CC's investigative process has been certified by Lord Pannick QC, who is satisfied that the process followed to produce the Report was fair, objective, appropriate and comprehensive. At the time the Report was commissioned, the Party committed to publishing the Report’s findings. The Party respects the rights of confidentiality and privacy of those involved in the events which the Report has considered and therefore the findings are presented in a manner that ensures that, so far as possible, no complainant or witness (other than senior CCHQ staff) can be identified. In order to achieve this, it is necessary not only to omit any such person’s name but also to avoid referencing any other details (such as dates, locations and details of alleged incidents) that might allow such person to be identified. This summary of the Report’s findings focuses on allegations that were reported or were alleged to have been reported to CCHQ. It does not include any instances of allegations of bullying, harassment and other inappropriate behaviour that are not alleged to have been reported to CCHQ and evidence relating to the circumstances leading up to Mr.
    [Show full text]
  • Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)
    Monday Volume 528 16 May 2011 No. 158 HOUSE OF COMMONS OFFICIAL REPORT PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES (HANSARD) Monday 16 May 2011 £5·00 © Parliamentary Copyright House of Commons 2011 This publication may be reproduced under the terms of the Parliamentary Click-Use Licence, available online through The National Archives website at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/information-management/our-services/parliamentary-licence-information.htm Enquiries to The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 4DU; e-mail: [email protected] HER MAJESTY’S GOVERNMENT MEMBERS OF THE CABINET (FORMED BY THE RT HON.DAVID CAMERON,MP,MAY 2010) PRIME MINISTER,FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY AND MINISTER FOR THE CIVIL SERVICE—The Rt Hon. David Cameron, MP DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER AND LORD PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL—The Rt Hon. Nick Clegg, MP FIRST SECRETARY OF STATE AND SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS—The Rt Hon. William Hague, MP CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER—The Rt Hon. George Osborne, MP LORD CHANCELLOR AND SECRETARY OF STATE FOR JUSTICE—The Rt Hon. Kenneth Clarke, QC, MP SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT AND MINISTER FOR WOMEN AND EQUALITIES—The Rt Hon. Theresa May, MP SECRETARY OF STATE FOR DEFENCE—The Rt Hon. Liam Fox, MP SECRETARY OF STATE FOR BUSINESS,INNOVATION AND SKILLS—The Rt Hon. Vince Cable, MP SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WORK AND PENSIONS—The Rt Hon. Iain Duncan Smith, MP SECRETARY OF STATE FOR ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE—The Rt Hon. Chris Huhne, MP SECRETARY OF STATE FOR HEALTH—The Rt Hon. Andrew Lansley, CBE, MP SECRETARY OF STATE FOR EDUCATION—The Rt Hon.
    [Show full text]
  • Bullying and Sexual Harassment at the Workplace, in Public Spaces, and in Political Life in the EU
    DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR INTERNAL POLICIES POLICY DEPARTMENT FOR CITIZENS' RIGHTS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS WOMEN'S RIGHTS & GENDER EQUALITY Bullying and sexual harassment at the workplace, in public spaces, and in political life in the EU STUDY Abstract This study, commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM), provides a broad account and an in-depth analysis of bullying and sexual harassment in the workplace, in public spaces and in political life. In this study trends in understanding of phenomena are acknowledged, status and progress in research is accounted for, key issues of controversies and debate are identified and recommendations for actions and intervention are provided. PE 604.949 EN ABOUT THE PUBLICATION This research paper was requested by the European Parliament's Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality and commissioned, overseen and published by the Policy Department for Citizen's Rights and Constitutional Affairs. Policy departments provide independent expertise, both in-house and externally, to support European Parliament committees and other parliamentary bodies in shaping legislation and exercising democratic scrutiny over EU external and internal policies. To contact the Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs. or to subscribe to its newsletter please write to: [email protected] Research administrator responsible Jos HEEZEN Policy
    [Show full text]
  • Facility Time for Union Reps - Separating Fact from Fiction
    Facility time for union reps - separating fact from fiction January 2012 1 Introduction On 30 November 2011 at the same time as up two million public sector workers were taking industrial action in defence of their pensions, the Prime Minister announced in the House of Commons that a review of the funding for trade union facility time in the public sector would take place. This announcement, pre-dated by similar announcements by both Frances Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office, and Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government, at the Conservative Party Conference, appeared to come as a direct result of continued agitation on this issue by the TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA), a right-wing pressure group. The TPA published Taxpayer funding of trade unions (Research Note 97) on November 25, 2011, and the Prime Minister made his announcement in response to a question which cited figures from the report from Conservative MP Laurence Robertson. Just a few days after this exchange the Prime Minister wrote to endorse the newly formed Trade Union Reform Campaign (TURC), headed up by Conservative MP Aidan Burley and whose staff includes former Conservative Future Chairman, Mark Clarke. Again, in their press and publicity work, TURC has drawn heavily on the research note published by the TPA. The headline findings from the TPA’s research note were that: a) Trade unions received £113m of funding from taxpayers in the year 2010-11 b) This sum of £113m was accounted for by £80m in paid staff time and £33m in direct payments. c) That these sums represented the staff costs of 2,840 full-time equivalent public sector staff.
    [Show full text]
  • Capital Works to Be Done
    Established October 1895 Generating business activity key at this time Page 5 Wednesday June 3, 2020 $1 VAT Inclusive Pay cuts and the public service CAPITAL WORKS WE have recently seen comments published elsewhere in the media that suggest it would be unfair for the civil service to take pay cuts alone, and that the whole of Barbados’ work force should also be asked to take a similar hit. We appreciate that TO BE DONE some of this rhetoric is union engendered and perhaps much THERE are a number of abandoned,” she said. that we can get more water in comes from workers in the public sector, and/or their families. projects Government is hop- She referred to such work the North of the island, in partic- The fact is many companies have already asked their staff to ing to achieve through its while revealing that as much as ular St. Joseph, St. John and St. take cuts for a period of time, or to defer payment of a portion capital works programme $70 million is spent by Andrew,” she stated. of income. That said, there still seems to be a fundamental lack with the help of the Government per year in the The Prime Minister also spoke of understanding of how and why the public sector came into Barbados Optional Savings rental of office space and it im- about the significant road works being, and what the cost means to taxpayers. Scheme (BOSS). perative, she maintained, that needed across the island. She The public sector exists to carry out the work of an elected Prime Minister Mia Amor that rental bill is reduced.That, admitted that while Government, which includes providing common services needed Mottley made the comments she said, can only be achieved if Government has been trying its to keep society running – water, sewage management etc.
    [Show full text]
  • Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)
    Monday Volume 533 10 October 2011 No. 203 HOUSE OF COMMONS OFFICIAL REPORT PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES (HANSARD) Monday 10 October 2011 £5·00 © Parliamentary Copyright House of Commons 2011 This publication may be reproduced under the terms of the Parliamentary Click-Use Licence, available online through The National Archives website at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/information-management/our-services/parliamentary-licence-information.htm Enquiries to The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 4DU; e-mail: [email protected] HER MAJESTY’S GOVERNMENT MEMBERS OF THE CABINET (FORMED BY THE RT HON.DAVID CAMERON,MP,MAY 2010) PRIME MINISTER,FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY AND MINISTER FOR THE CIVIL SERVICE—The Rt Hon. David Cameron, MP DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER AND LORD PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL—The Rt Hon. Nick Clegg, MP FIRST SECRETARY OF STATE AND SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS—The Rt Hon. William Hague, MP CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER—The Rt Hon. George Osborne, MP LORD CHANCELLOR AND SECRETARY OF STATE FOR JUSTICE—The Rt Hon. Kenneth Clarke, QC, MP SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT AND MINISTER FOR WOMEN AND EQUALITIES—The Rt Hon. Theresa May, MP SECRETARY OF STATE FOR DEFENCE—The Rt Hon. Liam Fox, MP SECRETARY OF STATE FOR BUSINESS,INNOVATION AND SKILLS—The Rt Hon. Vince Cable, MP SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WORK AND PENSIONS—The Rt Hon. Iain Duncan Smith, MP SECRETARY OF STATE FOR ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE—The Rt Hon. Chris Huhne, MP SECRETARY OF STATE FOR HEALTH—The Rt Hon. Andrew Lansley, CBE, MP SECRETARY OF STATE FOR EDUCATION—The Rt Hon.
    [Show full text]
  • Modernisers' Manifesto
    The MODERNISERS’ Ed Young Matthew d’Ancona Peter Hoskin George Freeman MP Laura Sandys MP Sam Bowman Peter Franklin Professor Tim Bale Isabel Hardman James Cleverly AM Ryan Shorthouse Sean Worth Jonathan Simons Nick Hillman Nick Hurd MP Kate Maltby Paul Goodman Ian Birrell Cllr Nigel Fletcher The Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell MP The Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP Zac Goldsmith MP Baroness Anne Jenkin Brooks Newmark MP Rick Nye James Brenton MANIFESTO THE MODERNISERS’ MANIFESTO Edited by Ryan Shorthouse, Kate Maltby and James Brenton The moral right of the authors has been asserted. All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into a re- trieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book. Bright Blue is an independent think tank and pressure group for lib- eral conservatism. First published in Great Britain in 2014 by Bright Blue Campaign www.brightblue.org.uk Copyright © Bright Blue Campaign, 2014 Printed and bound by DG3 Designed by Soapbox, www.soapbox.co.uk Contents Acknowledgements 6 Foreword 7 Matthew Parris Introduction 9 Ryan Shorthouse, Kate Maltby and James Brenton 1 Writing a winning manifesto 12 A view from history Ed Young 2 Tories on top 20 What now for the modernisers? Matthew d’Ancona 3 Growing up 29 The economy Peter Hoskin 4 Innovative insurgents 35 Entrepreneurialism
    [Show full text]
  • Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)
    Wednesday Volume 501 18 November 2009 No. 1 HOUSE OF COMMONS OFFICIAL REPORT PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES (HANSARD) Wednesday 18 November 2009 £5·00 © Parliamentary Copyright House of Commons 2009 This publication may be reproduced under the terms of the Parliamentary Click-Use Licence, available online through the Office of Public Sector Information website at www.opsi.gov.uk/click-use/ Enquiries to the Office of Public Sector Information, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 4DU; e-mail: [email protected] Chronology of The Parliamentary Debates The Parliamentary History contains all that can be collected of the Legislative History of this country from the Conquest to the close of the XVIIIth Century (1803), 36 vols. The chief sources whence these Debates are derived are the Constitutional History, 24 vols.; Sir Simonds D’Ewes’ Journal; Debates of the Commons in 1620 and 1621; Chandler and Timberland’s Debates, 22 vols.; Grey’s Debates of the Commons, from 1667 to 1694, 10 vols.; Almons Debates, 24 vols.; Debrett’s Debates, 63 vols.; The Hardwicke Papers; Debates in Parliament by Dr. Johnson, &c. &c. THE PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES commenced with the year 1803, and the contents are set forth in the following Chronological Table:— HISTORY (EIGHTH PARLIAMENT) CONQUEST TO 34 GEO. II.—1066 to 1760 Vol. 16 ..........................7 GEO. IV. ...........1826 Vol.1to15.1Will.Ito34Geo.II — 17 ..........................8 — ...........1827 1066-1760 — 18 & 19..................9 — ...........1828 REIGN OF GEO. III.—1760 to 1820 — 20—21 .................10 — ...........1829 Vol. 15 to 35. Geo. III to 40 Geo. III. — 22 to 25 ...............11 — ...........1830 1760—1800 Third Series PARLIAMENTS OF UNITED KINGDOM OF REIGN OF WILLIAM IV.
    [Show full text]
  • Tories Look for an Injection of Young Blue Blood to Revive the Party
    30th September 2017, The Times: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/tories-look-for-an-injection-of- young-blue-blood-to-revive-the-party-hfd3bpwm6 Tories look for an injection of young blue blood to revive the party Henry Zeffman The Conservative Party is to resurrect its youth wing as it tries to win back young voters before the next election. Conservative Future was taken over by the central party in 2015 after a bullying scandal, effectively shutting it down. After the general election, however, Conservative MPs complained that the dormancy of the youth wing meant that they did not have enough activists to compete with the campaigners drawn to the Labour Party. A document of more than 20 pages, written by Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) and circulated soon after the party's election disaster, lays out plans to create a "well-equipped, disciplined and engaged generation of members". The report also recommends new powers to control the youth groups. The proposals, designed specifically to avoid "bullying and cliques", aim to dissociate the Conservative Party from "risky student politics" while making youth chairmen the second most powerful people in their constituency association. Under the plans, university Conservative associations would no longer be formally part of the party, because they "have at times focused too much on social activity which has caused embarrassment to the party". Instead, young members would have "two party identities", one at university "of an academic and social nature" and one through Conservative Future "of a training and official party nature". Theresa May met her husband Philip at a disco organised by the Oxford University Conservative Association.
    [Show full text]