David Cameron: Hit the North

Posted by Robert Alcock on August 18, 2008 11:31 AM

A FEW months back I posted about the shadow cabinet 'big guns' that the Tories have been rolling into Southport. Since then, the high-level offensive has continued and hit its inevitable peak with the arrival of David Cameron last Thursday - which is reported in the Visiter here with an accompanying video. 
 A quick online search shows Mr Cameron's tour through a string of northern target constituencies picked up some solid coverage during the usual August dry patch in the news cycle. PR brownie points must go in particular to his Olympian feat of distancing from the politically suicidal Cities Unlimited report from the Tory-leaning Policy Exchange thinktank. Meanwhile, he managed to make some encouraging noises on contentious local matters - such as the long-running Southport/Ormskirk A&E issue - without hatching the kind of policy-on-the-hoof that could cause him trouble down the line (see here for his cautious response to a question about scrapping Wirral's tunnel tolls).

There can be no doubt Cameron's political stock is still rising - and while his utterances on the northern campaign trail may have not have upset too many applecarts, the same cannot be said of his decision to visit the Georgian capital of Tblisi last weekend. OK, so it may have been conveniently close to his pre-booked holiday destination in Turkey. Yet the vigour of his denunciation of Russia and his meeting with President Saakashvili has drawn approving comparisons with what has appeared a low-key stance from Messrs Brown and Miliband to the present crisis. If my memory serves correctly, this is the first time Mr Cameron has struck out with a really distinctive response to a hard-power foreign policy issue. And if this is a true marker, it suggests a Cameron government's foreign policy posture may resemble more than that of Blair than Brown - a prospect that comes with hefty risk, as this comment piece by former defence secretary Michael Portillo shows. Responding to a question about his readiness to govern during the mini-press conference at Southport Market, Mr Cameron acknowledged he had to be prepared to decide whether to send British troops into battle if the situation arose.

Southport Market today, a Caucasus warzone tomorrow

With accusations he had allowed himself to become 'cocky' no doubt ringing in his ears, Mr Cameron was at pains last Thursday to say he was making no predictions about the outcome of the next general election - although he later went on to name Southport as an example of a seat the Tories could take with "hard work". And make no mistake, there is still a live debate running through Conservative ranks about the extent to which the party still needs to 'change to win'. Take this little blast from shadow schools secretary Michael Gove - the Cameroon who once chaired Police Exchange - claiming many of his party colleagues are still perceived as "unreformed and grumpy" while Cameron shines like an "imported star centre-forward".

Gove's intervention may hint at where the battles lines lie at senior parliamentary level within the Conservative Party. But what about on the ground in a key marginal like Southport? Well 'modernisation' appears to be an issue there too. Yet rather than right and left, we are hearing talk of differences over the governance structures entailed in the new Sefton-wide Coastline Conservatives federation - although so far key individuals have only been speaking off-the-record or citing "internal matters" on which they will not comment. Money is also bound to feature in the electoral calculations taking place in Southport in the run-up to the next election. Tory donor Lord Ashcroft has lined up key marginals for a major cash injection from his own pockets, yet to date I have seen no reference to Southport benefiting from this munificence - I stand corrected if I am wrong.

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Liverpool City Region - count us in?

Posted by Robert Alcock on August 11, 2008 9:34 AM

SEFTON'S last full council meeting of the summer was also the first since the trio of post-election engagements marked by political crisis and its eventual resolution. Arguably there was a refreshing return to more 'business as usual' after the previous rows over the somewhat insular matters of alleged leaks, 'dodgy' election leaflets and the balance of party power across key council bodies. There was some clear ideological water to be seen between the parties - especially Labour and Conservative - at least on the debate over Sefton's involvement in the embryonic Liverpool City Region (LCR).

[The post-election ruckus that pitted Tories and Labour against the Lib Dems certainly ranked as an eyebrow-raising episode. But when the electoral geography of Sefton is considered - with its paucity of true Labour/Tory marginal wards - realpolitik perhaps explains what ideology cannot.]

Southport Town Hall saw councillors start to set out their stall on what Government ministers have trumpeted as an important innovation for local government. This report in the Southport Visiter stakes out the emerging party perspectives on the LCR 'prospectus' - a document that has been the subject of some wildly differing interpretations.

In the debate, the longstanding Tory councillors Eric Storey and Sir Ron Watson each drew parallels with the long-gone Merseyside County Council. Existing structures of co-operation between the five boroughs are already achieving results, said Sir Ron. Group leader Cllr Paula Parry clearly marked out Sefton Tories' opposition to the LCR.

Council leader Tony Robertson's take on the LCR was nothing if not nuanced. In the debate he re-iterated his view that the proposals effectively just replace the existing Merseyside Leaders' Meetings "with a few bells and whistles attached". After the meeting he told me that he could envisage "a broad range of views" coming to light in the process of each party drawing up their final submission on the project - and not just between the parties but among them too. That comment suggests there may be some intense discussions to come within the Lib Dem ranks before they submit their final verdict on the LCR. And the other parties? Well, the only comments on the plan I've heard so far from Tories have been emphatically negative. And Sefton Labour seem clear enough in starting from a receptive position - that we already live within a city region, with Liverpool as the "hub of economic activity in the area" and that moves to increase political co-operation in the interests of Merseyside should be welcomed. Those are the views of their leader Cllr Peter Dowd - although he did add the rider that "the devil is in the detail". The submission that is now set to make the most interesting reading is the one from the council leader's party.

Cllr Robertson said in interview he could see both the "pros and cons" of the LCR - the most notable pro being the chance for a "much closer working relationship with West Lancs and Lancashire". I think this will loom large in his party's deliberations. His former deputy, Meols ward's Cllr David Tattersall, has argued that the Government-backed LCR moniker has prompted a myriad of misconceptions about a scheme that he believes has the potential to embrace a much wider area than Greater Merseyside. Certainly, the prospectus namechecks Burscough and Wrexham as potentially lying within the sphere of the LCR, even if only the leaders and chief execs of the six Greater Merseyside council will initially have seats at its cabinet table. A check of the map of the proposed Central Lancashire City Region shows it does not include West Lancs, potentially leaving the district out on a limb if it is not welcomed in by its southern and western hinterland.

The well-regarded LSE academic Tony Travers provides a useful overview of New Labour's grapples with local government reform in the compendium Blair's Britain. It was none other than David Miliband - foreign secretary and supposedly putative challenger to Gordon Brown - who pushed the City Region agenda as a cabinet-level local government minister in 2005. Miliband plus think-tank allies also argued there could be advantages to coupling city regions with directly elected mayors whose powers cover their territory. Since then of course, Miliband has moved on in Government. Current local government minister John Healey made clear the City Regions will be voluntary entities.

City Region proponent David Miliband - probably not the Southport Party's preferred choice to be next PM

But let's not forget, Sefton is to conduct its own review into its leadership structures - with talk of a directly elected Mayor for the borough already sparking debate. Cllr Robertson may well be right - the LCR might not amount to anything extraordinary. But deep-seated changes in Sefton's politics could then be rung in nevertheless.

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