By Veronica Oakeshott - 19th February 2010
Gone are the days of the Mondeo Man, today it seems politics is all about the Waitrose Woman and her partner Johnny Lewis.
The Tories say they want public services to look more like the employee-owned company John Lewis, with teachers and doctors managing and owning their own schools and hospitals.
Labour says it is already doing that, having set up over one hundred Foundation Trust hospitals, managed not only by staff, but also by patients, and having established tens of Coop Trust Schools.
Meanwhile Labour in Lambeth has pledged to go further and set out its bid to become the first John Lewis Council.
Suddenly sturdy old John Lewis and cooperatives are in fashion. But predictably the politics is anything but cooperative.
The Co-operative Party is incensed by the encroachment of the Tories on their territory. It has been linked with the Labour party for over 80 years. The Conservative Cooperative movement is a mere toddler by comparison at just over two years old.
Doug Naysmith MP, one of the 29 MPs who are members of both the Labour and Cooperative parties, said: “The Tories are desperately grabbing for the left’s political clothes. The present goings on with the Tories is more like a fight at the January sales in Primark, than a grown up discussion about improving public services.”
Perhaps the Conservative’s sudden interest in Coops is part of mission to soften the party’s image.
February’s Comres Poll in which the Conservatives led among men by 16 per cent but trailed Labour by 4 per cent among women, must have been a rude shock for a confident party.
Not surprising then that Cameron went on both Women’s Hour and GMTV yesterday.
Until Waitrose Woman’s vote is water tight for the Tories, I doubt we’ve seen the last of her. As for Johnny Lewis – he’s gone from dull and dependable to political hot property in less than a week. Who wouldn’t envy that?
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd