Would such a move be a Tory “Clause 4 moment”?

There’s an interesting article in the Guardian by Tim Montgomerie under the heading Class is the Conservative clause IV – The Tory party must appeal to the northern strivers to have any hope of another outright election victory

He develops an argument first put last November when he argued that for his party to win a majority they had to be seen to be on the side of “the little guy”. Today he talks of the need to attract what he terms “The Northern Striver”. He concludes:-

“What Cameron and Osborne need is a blood-on-the-carpet moment that demonstrates they are on the side of working families. Nothing is more likely to help the two men counter the notion that they are out-of-touch than a battle with elements within their own party who want them to defend people who got rich from the property boom. They should relish a fight with Tory MPs who are more worried about people with £2m homes than people on incomes of £20,000. Every penny raised should be used to fund tax relief for working people. It should be the beginning of a much broader move to increase tax on wealth and cut tax on wealth creation as well as lighten the load of those still aspiring to the first rung of the housing ladder.

Class is the Tory clause IV. The party doesn’t need more female candidates as much as it needs more candidates born on the wrong side of the tracks… If the Conservatives don’t become the party of the northern striver they may never win that elusive parliamentary majority.”

Last year Michael Ashcroft published the results of a 10,000 sample survey on how the party might win back full power. In his commentary there was one telling paragraph. “For those who considered voting Tory in 2010 but thought better of it, the biggest barrier (which Tories are sick of hearing about but is real nonetheless) was the continuing impression that the party is for the rich, not people like them.”

I agree with much of the analysis.

@MikeSmithsonOGH