PITCHES AND TROUGHES. 100 BEST STORIES.

Last week in Glasgow, in the lead up to the by-election, David Cameron delivered what has been described as a taboo-breaking “moral leadership” speech . As reported it was a speech of real substance, with strong uneqivocal messages, for example “….we prefer moral neutrality, a refusal to make judgements about what is good and bad behaviour, right and wrong behaviour”.

It contained powerful messages which will register and which will drive the Tory agenda. However it is not this speech but his speech at the Tory Party conference in Blackpool in autumn 2005 that merits being included in the 100 Best Pitch Stories.

It was a five-way pitch. The two favourites going in  were the big beast Ken Clarke, an experienced and  fluent platorm speaker, and, in the lead, the bruiser David Davis, (now somewhat bruised by his by-election activity?) The other three were Liam Fox, Malcolm Rifkind and David Cameron. 

All five spoke for roughly the same amount time, to the same audience of party faithful and no one can remember what any of them said!

Quite simply the political landscape changed on that day. Not because of what Cameron said but  because of the way he said it.