Conference Watch: Cameron's Speech

Cameron's speech

2:15pm Cameron comes out to a rapturous reception. He tells the audience this might be a messy as he’s got no autocue, Cameron unspun.

2:20pm Cameron is tying the party into the project; paying tribute to it for the increased number of women candidates, its campaigns on the environment and the like.

Coffee House

First reaction to the speech...

The performance was very good. He looked relaxed. The conversational style worked well on television. (I couldn't get back to the Winter Gardens in time from a lunchtime fringe meeting I was chairing).

Conservative Home

Cameron’s speech

First reactions to watching Cameron’s speech from a sofa in London and his masterful control over his party conference. He rowed back from Blairism. His repositioning was to project himself as someone who knew how to deliver what he wanted. This was his attempt to answer Brown’s competence and to respond to the fashion for grit rather than rhetoric. He did it well. Ruthlessly even, he’s not had a career in public relations for nothing. The image was effectively symbolised by discarding the autocue.

Our Kingdom

Was it good enough?

Conservatives 07: David Cameron's very decent, very competent, mostly honest speech surely fell short of the goal he had set himself.

Martin Kettle

A reassuring chat

This was no conference rabble rouser. More a reassuring chat from that nice clean-cut young man who just popped in to explain how he could mend the country. His message? That the other lot aren't wicked, they've tried awfully hard - but they've made a bit of a mess of things.

Nick Robinson

Cameron's disgraceful attack on police...

Disgusted and saddened to hear David Cameron use the tragic drowning of a Wigan lad in an attempt to score a cheap political point. In his make-or-break speech to Conservative Conference, the Tory Leader has just suggested that two community support officers stood by and watched ten-year-old Jordon Lyon drown "because the rules wouldn't let them" dive in and save him.

Fair Deal Phil

Cameron's Wind Of Change

Let's look at that Dave Cameron speech to Tory Conference in full. Starts off by saying he wants a brave new world. (I wonder if it is the Aldous Huxley version he was thinking of?) Talks about the crashing down of the Berlin Wall and the achievements of Margaret Thatcher. One wonders whether 1990 is the last time even the Tories can think of that they did anything worthwhile. Talks about a "wind of change". I wonder if the Scorpions are going to reform in order to perform Cameron's election theme.

Kerron Cross

Cameron gets his knickers in a twist

Now I must say, after about ten minutes of Dave’s speech, I was pretty impressed. Some very targeted and valid attacks on Brown and a big Tory love-in, presumably aimed at inspiring the Tory activists to spend the next few weeks knocking on doors.

But I needn’t have worried. Give a prat like that a stage for an hour and soon enough the truth will out. Two things of note:

The Golden Side of the Moon

But will it move the polls?

My view is that we will see a significant move to the Tories - what I can’t predict is the scale of that shift and that is everything. If we get close to level-pegging then it’s going to be a much tougher call for Brown. If not then November 1st would seem to be it.

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