The Tories’ election broadcast

I just saw the Tories’ party election broadcast for the first time, and I was unimpressed, to say the least. Actually, immigration didn’t play as much of a part in it as it did in Howard’s speech the other day – it was mentioned by just one of the actors, I mean contributors, not including Howard. The broadcast had a guitar-driven rock backing track, which I was going to say might be an appeal to younger voters, but would probably appeal nowadays to anyone under 50; but in any case, it seems a departure for them.

It consisted of a series of people explaining why they “choose” the Conservative party. (The word Tory, which they are trying to move away from, didn’t appear.) They included one black man, who appeared to be African rather than Carribean, and several women. They cannot seem to make Howard even remotely appealing; he sounds upper-class even as he talks about how his values are those of the British people (a common feature of American right-wing upper-class conservatives who brag about how “humble” they are). He told us how his father (a Romanian Jewish immigrant) said Britain was the best country in the world – yeah right, and his family couldn’t even go by their real name.

And hardly any of the contributors gave a clue as to what the Tories’ actual policies would be. They talked about more police on the beat (so there’ll be less crime – not rocket science is it?), without saying how they’d fund it. Cleaner hospitals, and doctors allowed to make their own decisions (so does that mean getting rid of the managers the Tories brought in last time they were in power?). The footballer talking about frontline services, without mentioning what exactly.

The handwritten slogans which can be seen on Tory posters (like “it’s not racist to impose limits on immigration”, “I mean, how hard is it to keep a hospital clean?”) were spoken by the contributors, which casts doubt over the whole exercise. Perhaps they really were thought up by them, or perhaps they were thought up by Lynton Crosby and given in the script to the contributors. Of course, if that bit is scripted, then the same can be said for the whole “why I choose the Conservative party” performance.

All in all, this doesn’t bring me an inch closer to voting Tory than I was before I saw it. The darkness in Howard’s face and his voice is quite apparent – is he really the best leader they can come up with? This broadcast’s lack of focus on immigration almost seems deceptive, given the nauseating anti-gypsy rabble-rousing going on elsewhere. This broadcast has a lot of posturing, and next to nothing on the party’s actual policies.