Why didn’t you text, Steve?

I went to Steve Richards’ Rock & Roll Politics show at the Soho Theatre last night, which was pretty fun, assumed a certain knowledge of political figures and facts (which I very much appreciated) and largely didn’t assume bad faith from politicians – I enjoyed it.

One thing he said which really interested me was that he had been at a dinner with David Cameron during the 2005 leadership campaign (when I was running about in my ‘I ♡ DC’ t-shirt and badges and posters). They had discussed the recent history of Conservative leaders, and how they had, largely against their will and certainly against all reasonable evidence, been pulled to the right over time. Steve Richards’ view was, very clearly, that David Cameron, despite his awareness and his strength of character, has indeed been pulled to the right. But the fascinating thing was that David Cameron had said to him, “If you think it’s happening, text me. Text me and tell me.”

I didn’t ask this at the time – but if he does think the party is pulling to the right, why didn’t Richards text?

There are two related points here. The first is the big question – has he really been substantively pulled off-course (I don’t think being of the right is a bad thing; I do think being inconsistent is). And the second is, who has been or should be that canary in the coalmine if that pulling has happened?

I don’t actually think that the party has entirely veered away from the core modernising agenda, and every so often a little bit of that radical zeal returns (usually in a time of hideousness, which of course begs the question, why only do it when things are bad?) I do think that it wasn’t sufficiently fleshed out, and that it basically stuttered over the financial crisis and never got its confidence back. We should have continued – the social stuff was always only the start of it, and the economics should have come. This government has done and is doing a large number of things which are both Conservative and modernising, and more power to them for doing so – long may it continue and improve.

But more interestingly, perhaps, has there been an impression left that David Cameron has been shoved off-course? If so, is that just an outsiders’/media narrative because of course no Prime Minister must ever be given an easy time? Is it that we are all – and I include myself in this, though perhaps from a different angle – keen to see what suits our own instinctive prejudices? Is it that there isn’t enough of the modernising voice in public and so David Cameron cannot do what all leaders must do and build consensus between competing voices?

It’s an interesting quandry. And I think it should leave all of us questioning whether we have done enough, and will do enough, to articulate what the party needs to do in the future.