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A qualified success
Richard Parsons
The Conservatives will be reflect on a reasonably successful Monday in Bournemouth.
The format for the conference, with the audience voting on motions after hearing speakers for and against, generated heated debate - helped by the decision to invite a string of non-Conservatives to participate.
But even the speakers who may have had doubts about the value of voting Tory seemed to welcome the chance to talk about their favoured issues.
And there was a surprise when 52 per cent voted in favour of considering a ban on marketing to children, while a large minority also thought that low-cost air fares are a "false economy".
Such votes may well go some way to convincing sceptics that the party really is changing - though perhaps those voting were also aware of that and prepared to cast their voters with an eye on the media and the wider audience.
Less successfully for the Conservatives, shadow chancellor George Osborne came in for criticism after he came close to suggesting that Gordon Brown could be "faintly autistic".
And of mixed impact was the debate on tax.
On the one hand, it raised questions about the continuing lack of specific policies and whether David Cameron's desire to move to the centre ground is shared by the rest of his party.
And on the other hand, with Cameron insisting that there would be no specific promise of tax cuts, it gave him the chance to slap down critics.
Elsewhere, the environment allowed for some impassioned speeches, with the need to act on global warming topping the agenda.
Quite how that squares with statements from shadow transport secretary Chris Grayling, for example, that the Conservatives are still the motorists' friend, remains to be seen.
This is one of the problems of not nailing down the specifics.
Next year, the tough choices will have to be made.
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Published: Mon, 2 Oct 2006 17:03:49 GMT+01
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