Today at Conference
- 10.00: Welfare Reform and Jobs – Chris Grayling, Maria Miller, Iain Duncan Smith, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
- 11.20: The Economy – Mark Prisk, Minister of State, Damian Collins MP, George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer
- 14.30: Rebalancing the Economy – Eric Pickles, Grant Shapps, Francis Maude, John Hayes, Minister of State, Philip Hammond
- 15.45: The Olympics and Paralympics – Jeremy Hunt, The Lord Coe, KBE, Hugh Robertson
Overview
The economy has been marked as the key battleground ahead of the conference. Andrew Tyrie’s broadside at Downing Street has hit right at the heart of the Government’s woes. As the financial markets in Asia fell there was an eerie quiet over Manchester last night. Even after the rain had washed away the protestors, were no heady scenes of optimism and expectation that we saw 2 years ago. Power brings with it responsibility.
Fulfilling a pre-election pledge from the Conservatives, George Osborne is expected today to announce an extension of the freeze in council tax worth some £800m for 2013, which Osborne claims has been found through underspend in Whitehall. This follows last week’s announcement on weekly bin collections, for which £250 million was set aside. Further announcements expected from his speech include a focus on growth, infrastructure investment and mobile phone reach…and potentially something on child benefit.
As with David Cameron’s speech later in the week, it is expected that Osborne’s address will be to the nation, rather than focused on party membership and Conservative political tactics, as in previous years. Osborne is unlikely to be a prominent figure at the conference beyond his keynote speech this morning, as he is due at an EU Finance Ministers’ meeting to discuss the financial crisis in Greece.
David Cameron is grabbing the headlines following his apology in the Sunday Times and on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show for comments made to women MPs during Prime Minister’s Question Time this year, including the infamous “calm down, dear” aimed at Angela Eagle, and comments about Nadie Dorries MP being “frustrated.” He commented that he regrets any women who may have been offended by his remarks, rebutting accusations that he is out of touch and “one of the lads.” This apology comes amidst concern that Conservatives are losing support amongst women, in a bid to do more as a party to appeal to female voters.
Fleishman in the Fringes
Yesterday evening Fleishman-Hillard supported two successful fringe events, both focusing on digital campaigning and engagement. The first, titled ‘The Big Debate: What role can Digital play the future of Party Politics” was chaired by Nick Williams, Head of Public Affairs and Corporate Communications at Fleishman-Hillard, with panelists Shane Greer, CEO of Total Politics; Tom Edmonds, Creative Director at the Conservative Party; Matt Warman, Consumer Technology Editor of the Telegraph; and Dean Russell, Head of Digital at Fleishman-Hillard, which saw a fascinating discussion different forms of digital campaigning from SMS to polling day mapping, and how to engage older party members in social media activities.
This was followed by the Official Conservative Party Tweet Up sponsored by Fleishman-Hillard, which opened with a very entertaining speech by Housing Minister and popular tweeter Grant Shapps, who shared insights into how he uses twitter to share information about his working life and as a way of gaining feedback from the public on policies and media announcements. He also offered valuable advice to political tweeters including ‘always write your own tweets’ and to strike a balance between a regular flow of communication and over-tweeting, in the famous words of David Cameron “too many tweets…”
Today’s Headlines
- The Sun: Freeze cheers for council tax break
- The Guardian: David Cameron says sorry for comments to female MPs
- The Telegraph: Tax breaks for married couples, Iain Duncan Smith insists
- BBC News: PM rules out ‘in or out’ EU vote
Spotted
Peter Mandelson seen hovering on the streets of Manchester in his brand new Rolls Royce, presumably in his new role as a global business consultant.
