Photograph courtesy of World Economic Forum

Last year I made a fairly failsafe prediction that David Cameron would have a good 2008. Gordon Brown’s contempt for PR was only ever going to boost his public image in the short term: foresaking spin is fine until you have a policy to present or defend (say: a tax reform, a bank bailout or the scheduling of an election), at which point your media savvy opponent tears you to bits. But, for all his PR nous, I don’t think swing voters are sold on Cameron. He suffers from a perceived lack of substance and an unpalatable whiff of Bullingdon Club elitism.

Is there time for a Labour fightback? Of course. But the chances are slim. The party must rebrand. Cameron’s major policy innovation so far has been to draw a little green squiggle and call it the Conservative logo. Starting today, Brown needs to swallow his pride and do something similar: market Labour as the party of strength in a period of global turbulence. And there’s no doubt that he’s the man for the job. David Miliband makes Sarah Palin look ready to lead.

Filed under: jonathanbirch, labour, ukpolitics on September 23rd, 2008