When David Cameron made his successful pitch for the Conservative Party leadership in 2005, he delivered his conference speech from memory and away from the podium, to show that he represented a generational break with the stuffy formalities of the past. In Birmingham yesterday, a sober-suited Prime Minister stood alone behind a lectern; all the phoney contrivances and modernisers’ gimmicks had been left in the props department. A serious speech for serious times, it stood in marked contrast to the cynical and intellectually vacuous offering from Ed Miliband last week – and to the “look, no notes” style adopted by the Labour leader in an attempt to assuage doubts about his basic competence.
Read Full Article »
