Cameron's leadership pitch

Cameron also strayed away from straightforward optimism in an unexpected series of attacks on the Opposition. He named Ed Balls, although not Ed Miliband, in arguing that: "We must never let these Labour politicians anywhere near our economy again." And in an echo of his last conference speech in Manchester, two years ago... 

Peter Hoskin

Leadership, leadership, leadership. You couldn't miss it. Leadership wasn't just the theme of David Cameron's speech to the Tory conference just now, but also one of its most common words. By my count, it popped up around 30 times. "I'm proud to lead this party," he said in the very first paragraph. "It is leadership we need," he continued. The aim, I'm sure, was to paint an even stronger contrast between David Cameron the Prime Minister and Ed Miliband the Sub-Prime Ministerial.
 
But Cameron wasn't just talking about his own leadership. As he put it himself, "success will come: with the right ideas, the right approach, the right leadership. Leadership from government: to set out the direction we must take, and the choices we must make. But leadership also from you." It was, in effect, a recasting of the argument for the Big Society. Cameron went on to highlight, for instance, the "leadership" of people who have set up free schools and who cleaned up after the riots. The very last line of the speech was an appeal for us to "together lead Britain to better days".
 
But what about the worse days that we face now? Cameron didn't linger on them, preferring instead to conjure up images of a sunny future driven by innovation, technology and "can-do optimism". But there was still a touch of gloom. It was striking to hear the PM admit that "the threat to the world economy — and to Britain — is as serious today as it was in 2008 when world recession loomed."
 
Cameron also strayed away from straightforward optimism in an unexpected series of attacks on the Opposition. He named Ed Balls, although not Ed Miliband, in arguing that: "We must never let these Labour politicians anywhere near our economy again." And in an echo of his last conference speech in Manchester, two years ago, he struck out at Labour for being "self-righteous" and ineffectual when it comes to reducing poverty. Indeed, one of the key motifs of this conference has been a renewed emphasis on aiding the least well off.
 
As for hard policy, there was little of that — but that's how it has been this week. In the end, Cameron's speech today was more about mood. It merged realism about the grey mire of the present with optimism about the future. It contained a healthy sprinkling of crowd-pleasers. It was celebratory and buoyant. Yes, this conference has been flat on the whole. But, so far as it matters, Cameron has just injected some bounce into its final step.

Spectator