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Opponents of Lord Ashcroft usually learn that it is unwise to cross the man who helped keep the Conservative party afloat during the wilderness years.
David Cameron, who has not been forgiven by Ashcroft after he failed to offer him support in a row over his tax affairs, was taught that lesson on Wednesday evening.
As the prime minister prepared to fly home from Mexico, the Guardian published an article by Ashcroft which took apart the main thrust of the Tory leadership's strategy for dealing with Ed Miliband. This is that Miliband is a woefully inadequate leader who will never connect with the British people because he is too left wing, too Primrose Hill and too like Wallace.
Ashcroft wrote:
The Conservatives do not want to go into an election with the leaders' relative ratings as they are – but it is depressing to hear that plans are afoot to paint Miliband as the Michael Dukakis of British politics: part of a metropolitan elite with no understanding of mainstream concerns. There are at least three reasons why this is a terrible idea.
Dukakis was, of course, the Democratic candidate in the 1988 US presidential election. The former Massachusetts governor was famously taken apart in an aggressive campaign on behalf of George Bush snr masterminded by the late Republican attack dog, Lee Atwater.
Ashcroft did not leave it at that. He provided some excellent ammunition for Miliband to fire at Cameron over the coming weeks:
• The prime minister is seen by voters as 'competent and determined'. But Ashcroft added:
These characteristics outweighed a faint impression of smugness, arrogance or ruthlessness.
• A view is growing that the government is losing its grip. He wrote:
A view is gaining ground that the government lacks direction, with the number of U-turns – each trivial in itself – suggesting policies are not properly thought through...The party badly needs a sense of direction.
The latest intervention by Ashcroft shows that he has still not been reconciled to the Tory leadership. In a book on the last election, published in September 2010, Ashcroft was critical of the Tory campaign and the "tactical error" to push for the television debates.
Ashcroft was furious with the Cameron circle when it distanced the future prime minister from him when a row about his tax affairs blew up in March 2010, shortly before the general election. Cameron's office let it be known that he had no idea that Ashcroft had been a "non-dom" for his first decade as a peer after entering the Upper House while William Hague was Tory leader.
But Cameron's greatest sin in Ashcroft's eyes are his political failings. The prime minister will have to respond to Ashcroft's criticisms with care for two reasons:
• The peer played a pivotal role in the modernisation of the party. His report on the 2005 election, Smell the Coffee, provided crucial ammunition for the modernising chairman at the time, Francis Maude.
• Two key Cameron aides have worked closely with Ashcroft over the years. Andrew Cooper, the founder of the Populus polling company who is now the No 10 strategy director, did the polling for the Smell the Coffee report. Stephen Gilbert, the prime minister's political secretary, worked closely with Ashcroft on targeting help at marginal seats.
Comments
20 June 2012 8:48PM
Ashcroft? ........Ashcroft?
Call me innocent ........ but .........
Would this be the Ashcroft who had a less examplary view to payng the taxes that are otherwise shovelled onto the shoulders of FULL taxpaying citizen voters? Or am I completely mistaken ........ and thinking of an ENTIRELY different Ashcroft in this respect?!
20 June 2012 9:53PM
Wonder if Lord Ashcroft advised Jimmy Carr on his taxation arrangements?
20 June 2012 10:11PM
Oh Dear
Our Dave has a propensity to be careless over the choice of his enemies as well as of his friends
20 June 2012 10:25PM
Lord who ... does he pay any tax or is he just another comedian ?
20 June 2012 10:34PM
How has he got friends?
20 June 2012 10:53PM
Lord Ashtray here is someone you may get along with very well ....Sir Clive Thompson, a former president of the CBI.
20 June 2012 11:01PM
That's it then .
The Donor has Spoken.
Sorted.
Mind you , shouldn't someone point out to Cameron that the only reason we do not view Cameron as Britain's Tricky Dicky Nixon, is we are scared that a direct comparison with DodgyDave would offer grounds for TrickyDicky to sue due to the deeply offensive way we would be besmirching the Nixon reputation for fair dealing and above board practises.