Aside from the axe-wielding Honest George oratory, the hot topic in Manchester is the extraordinary George Osborne backdrop. This must be a first in political stage-management and you have to wonder whether it will also be a last.
What patch of Middle England did they chose? Well we can reveal that it is the fine Oxfordshire market town of Abingdon, home of Radiohead. Forget pebble-dash voters. Osborne placed himself firmly in the shires.
Labour will be delighted. It neatly fits into their attempt to define the Tory “North Oxfordshire set”, which George Parker wrote about earlier this week. This was the key quote from a senior minister: “There is a group of people where political, financial, social and media interests are entwined. It’s about people with homes in north Oxfordshire who socialise together, dine together, occasionally hunt together.”
But the Tory delegates have not just been enjoying views of lovely Abingdon. Yesterday the backdrop was the Moss Side in Manchester. This is a progressive party, after all.
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Jim Pickard
Kiran Stacey
