YouGov did some interesting polling work over the summer, asking voters whether they thought the main* political parties were close or not close to various groups in society. Most of the results are predictable, but there were two which caught my eye – both of which could spell trouble for the Tories.
These two groups were “People with families” and “Older people”. For Labour, 54% and 44% of voters respectively thought the Party was close to families and the elderly. The Tories could only muster 42% and 33%.
This is to Labour’s credit – they used their time in power to build an effective image as defenders of the family, introducing an array of financial tools (see Child Trust Funds, Child Tax Credits, Working Families Tax Credits, etc) to reward and keep close to the families of Britain. The closeness to the elderly is a little more difficult to decipher – services for the elderly didn’t have any major headline revamps under Labour – it seems more to be a well-crafted image.
This is ground Cameron wants back, and will probably need if he is to take a majority in 2015. The scribbly tree and video diaries from the family kitchen were all ploys to grow closer to the family, but they don’t appear to have worked too well.
The Conservatives’ problem has been confusing family values with families. Any poll would undoubtedly show them as closer to family values, but when it comes to practical support of the family the Tories have fallen behind – and this poll was taken before Child Benefit got chopped.
So how does a government busy cutting its budget boost support for the family? Clearly they can’t extend more financial benefits – even Cameron’s token marriage bonus got scrapped – and the conveniently named credits of Brown’s Chancellorship are likely to fall into the far less cuddly Universal Credit.
What they can do is far more organic, perhaps far more real: they can return power to the kitchen table. Increasing school choice, through free schools or vouchers, gives families more influence over their children’s education, just as jumping on Labour’s market-like healthcare reform bandwagon lets the family feel more in control of its treatment.
Frank Fields’ report on child poverty has already recommended more family friendly school holidays as well as parenting taught (sensibly) in schools, and is likely to include further recommendations on bringing parents into schools to involve them in their children’s education. These ideas should be followed.
The Tories don’t have the money to make new headline benefits, and to do so would be a mistake even if they could. Instead they need to find a way to bring family into the heart of policy, else they might feel that next general election slipping away.
* Well they didn’t bother asking about the Lib Dems…
