Hope for Britain?

Needless to say, the more Cameron and the Conservatives gain, the more the loss for the ruling Labour.

This was clear from the latest opinion poll, by Guardian, that showed Cameron winning 42 per cent support for the post of prime minister as against 29 per cent by Labour’s Gordon Brown, who is tipped to succeed Tony Blair as PM and party leader anytime now. Chances are that Brown will be a casualty of the unpopular policies of the Tony Blair dispensation — Britain’s support to and participation in the Iraq War being the most “disastrous” among them. This, in spite of the good name Brown has earned in economic management, both for himself and the government, in his capacity as Chancellor of the Exchequer. On his part, it would appear that Tony Blair has already seen the writing on the wall; or, as his critics might say, he is bent upon spoiling the chances, whatever little, of Brown moving into 10 Downing Street.

Hence, his invocation of the “opposition” spirit, the other day, when he urged his partymen not to be “content with being in opposition”, and that they must strive to get back to power again by “changing”. If anything, the prime minister has set the right mood for the Conservatives to start bidding for power.

If the problem with Conservatives in the past one decade, when the Labour was at the helm, was the lack of a charismatic leader to energise the rank and file, that, by now, is a thing of the past. Cameron is successfully taking on the Labour, raising issues, and winning popular support. That the Tories’ 13 point lead over the Labour, in the latest poll, was the highest since their 1992 victory, speaks volumes for the future.