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Falling short: why “Project Cameron”failed to get a majority
May 2010
Clare Hilley James Knight
Index
Foreword and introduction
Centralisation and imposition
Central managementImposition on grassroots
Election campaign strategy
TV debatesOne man bandCoordinationFailure to prepare
Communications and messaging
Failure to create a single messageUnclear and unpopular messagesFailing to establish a Conservative narrative
ConclusionAbout us
Introduction
Over the last four years the Conservative Party under David Cameron has beenworking towards securing a workable majority in Parliament. However, as the firstfew results from key marginal seats came in at 2am on Friday May 7th the people of Britain knew that their country was heading to its first hung parliament in 36 years.With swings between 0-1% needed to win the first key seats it was assumed by allthat they would be gained by the Conservatives but almost half of this key numberwere retained by the Liberal Democrats including; Cheltenham, Somerton & Frome,Eastleigh and Westmorland & Lonsdale. In Cheltenham a 0.33% swing was requiredin order for the Conservatives to win but yet they only managed to increase theshare of vote marginally above what it achieved in the 2005 general election underMichael Howard's leadership.This report analyses the reasons why the Conservatives failed to win an additional 20seats which would have given them a clear majority over the other political parties.
Three major conclusions:
1.
The centralisation of the selection and the imposition of candidates demoralisedthe grassroots and failed to convince voters.
2.
The tightly controlled campaign failed to listen to those on the ground, focussedon advertising not canvassing and failed to utilise the depth of the team aroundDavid Cameron.
3.
There was no clear, consistent Conservative message for campaigners to push onthe doorstep.
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