Negative campaigning

It seems that the Conservative Party is addicted to negative campaign. No matter how hard they try to kick the habit, and despite the warnings from people such as Lord Ashcroft, who is polling voters about their reaction to the campaign, they are still finding new reasons to criticise Labour. It began with criticism of Labour’s past economic record, but it seemed the voters had already factored that in. Then it was Miliband as potential prime minister. This has now abated as the Labour leader’s personal standing has begun to rise, not spectacularly, but in the ‘right’ direction. Now it is the SNP and the prospect of a kind of Faustian pact between Sturgeon and Labour. Ashcroft has reported some sort of pro Conservative reaction to this, but there is no real breakthrough. It is a strange phenomenon because if it really is the economy that will determine the outcome on May 7 the Conservatives are in a strong position, with solid economic growth, falling unemployment, rising living standards, low interest and inflation and lower taxes for lower income groups. But the Conservatives seem strangely coy over these achievements. The party also has some positive messages – a promised EU referendum, further inroads into the deficit, falling crime rates and plenty of major infrastructure projects in prospect to boost the economy further. And then there is Cameron and his personal ratings which are well ahead of the others. Strange days indeed.