Conservative Party
The Conservatives' NHYes Express gets ready to take to the streets to spread the word on the Conservatives' health pledges
Posted by Tessa Murray at Tue, 13/04/2010 - 4:45pm in Health Mandate commentary, Political commentary
Following a rousing speech from William Hague and then a tag team of Shadow Cabinet members, Andrew Lansley set out a clear invitation to health professionals and the public to ‘join the government of Britain', calling on us all to become ‘part of the change the NHS needs'.
Cameron launches 'power to the people' manifesto
Posted by Laura Jackson at Tue, 13/04/2010 - 3:18pm in Political commentary
At today's launch of the Conservative manifesto, David Cameron invited voters to "join us in forming the next government of Britain". Cameron, and members of his Shadow Cabinet team who took to the podium before him, took a gamble today, hoping that voters will welcome the invitation to create a "Big Society", rather than opt for Labour's option of an active government.
Do Conservatives prefer Blond?
Posted by Owen Bethell at Fri, 27/11/2009 - 2:36pm in Political commentary
The much hyped launch of the ResPublica think tank, headed up by 'Red-Tory' Phillip Blond, has provided some food for thought for David Cameron and his key policy makers as the Conservative Party seeks to further codify its ideas ahead of the General Election. A lengthy 'inauguration' speech at the launch event provided Blond with the perfect platform for espousing his new vision.
Which politicians got the most media coverage during October?
Posted by Mark Pack at Mon, 02/11/2009 - 5:03pm in Political commentary
Following up our coverage of which senior politicians were the best gatherers of media coverage during their party conferences, Mandate has now been tracking their successes and failures at getting print media coverage during October.
The Conservative top ten is much the same as during their conference, with just Andrew Lansley replacing David Willetts in the top ten whilst the top five places are unchanged:
The launch of MyConservatives.com
Posted by Mark Pack at Fri, 09/10/2009 - 10:33am in Internet, Political commentary
The latest PR Week podcast is an interview with myself talking about the launch of MyConservatives.com:
The media league table: how did the Conservative Shadow Cabinet do?
Posted by Mark Pack at Fri, 09/10/2009 - 9:55am in Political commentary
Rounding off our analysis of print media coverage gained by each of the (Shadow) Cabinet teams during their party's autumn conference, here are the top fifteen Conservatives. As with our previous Labour and Liberal Democrat lists, it's in descending order of volume of coverage:
Cuts and (a lack of) thrust
Posted by Gavin Devine at Wed, 16/09/2009 - 7:38am in Political commentary
So the newspapers this morning are abuzz with the 'news' that Gordon Brown has finally allowed the word "cuts" to escape his lips. Big deal. The only interesting thing about this is its timing, and what it demonstrates about paralysis and self-deception at the heart of Government.
BBC journalists are loved by ... Conservative MPs
Posted by Mark Pack at Wed, 09/09/2009 - 11:06am in Political commentary
Across all the mainstream parties you'll find MPs who mutter about the BBC's funding setup and its editorial judgements, but most frequently those comments come from the Conservative Party's ranks.
However, a newly published poll of MPs asking them to list their favourite broadcast journalists shows the BBC dominating the preferences - even of Conservative MPs.
Overall, four of the top five broadcast journalists are from the BBC:
1. Nick Robinson
2. Andrew Marr
3. Jon Snow
4. John Humphrys
5. Jeremy Paxman
A local housing policy for local people?
Posted by Nicola Bates at Fri, 04/09/2009 - 1:34pm in Political commentary
If you agree that politics is where the interests of the private sphere meets that of the public, then you do not get anything more political than planning. Ask any local councillor and they will agree. It can be as simple as a neighbour’s idea of design conflicting with the conservation zone, or a new town being built where you currently walk the dog. Either way you have two differing opinions, differing needs and no clear right or wrong.
The torch of progressive thinking passes to the Conservatives
Posted by Mandate Insider at Tue, 11/08/2009 - 4:18pm in Political commentary
Mandate's Political Insider is sweltering in Demos' South Bank HQ listening to George Osborne combine Conservatism with Kennedyism as he claims "the torch of progressive politics" has been passed to HIS generation.
But does his speech add up? Mr Osborne's first claim is that his Conservatism, and indeed the Conservatives at their best, are "unashamedly progressive". In fact, he paints a solid progressive line (of his own definition) from Disraeli (reforming voting), through Baldwin (pensions), RAB Butler and Margaret Thatcher (selling council houses) as one progressive path.
