Mikeuk

The Tories are from Mars but Cameron is from Venus, says Tessa
Jowell

By Melissa Kite, Deputy Political Editor
(Filed: 05/02/2006)

David Cameron is from Venus - but the rest of the Conservative Party
is from Mars, according to Tessa Jowell in the most personal
analysis yet by a Labour minister of the Tory leader's early success.

In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, the Culture Secretary
admitted that the Tories had enjoyed a revival under Mr Cameron who
was "very unusual for a Tory". "It's the Venus and Mars analogy,"
she said, referring to the self-help best-seller Men are from Mars,
Women are from Venus, by John Gray, about the immutable differences
between the sexes.

"The old view of the Tories is that they were domineering and
hectoring and very male. Cameron is a Venusian and that is very
unusual for a Tory. But he's employed all the same old Martians to
advise him on policy and you have got the biggest Martian of all
advising him on economic policy, John Redwood.

"The question is whether Cameron, with his metrosexual appeal and
femininity, can sustain himself as a convincing leader when he also
has to face the policy challenges that he set for himself.

"At the moment it is easy just to stand up every day and look
relaxed and ooze empathy but sooner or later he's going to have to
face some of the very hard questions he's kicked off INTO phpbb_the long
grass to be looked after by Martians, and he's going to have to
develop a manifesto."

Ms Jowell said the Tory leader was "a bit like a caterpillar who's
shed his skin and has emerged for a little while as a butterfly".
She added: "The Tories have had a revival on the strength of
Cameron. Is there a danger in Cameron? Let's wait and see. Will he
produce a coherent set of policies? Let's wait and see."

Ms Jowell was speaking over tea and mineral water in her immaculate
office above Trafalgar Square, with its pristine white sofas, soft
lighting and trendy artwork. She acknowledged that the Government
was in a period of transition and subject to "counter-currents". But
the Prime Minister's closest Cabinet ally rejected the notion, put
forward by some commentators, that Mr Cameron was now the "heir to
Blair".

"That is complete rubbish," she said. "That betrays a complete
misunderstanding of who Tony Blair is and what Tony Blair did. When
Tony became leader in '94 the country fell in love with him.

"They fell in love with his freshness, they fell in love with the
fact that he seemed so normal and relaxed, the fact that he was so
in touch with their lives. Every time he went on TV or made a speech
he radiated this sort of easy communication but none of that was
spontaneous. He had worked out exactly what we had to do."

Ms Jowell has had a tough week with the announcement by Multiplex,
the Australian company building the new Wembley Stadium, that it may
not be finished in time for the FA Cup final on May 13. Having
ridden to the rescue of the £757 million project, she could be
forgiven for feeling let down by Multiplex.

But she said: "When Wembley is built it will be the finest stadium
in Europe and it will be there for decades to come so if it is ready
five weeks late, that will be forgotten." She added: "I'm not saying
it will be five weeks late."

Ms Jowell has also been keeping an eye on the religious hatred laws
going through Parliament, which have prompted concern from
performers including Rowan Atkinson. She said it was right that
Muslims were protected from Islamaphobic abuse but wrong to curtail
free speech: "Where malice is not intended, no comedian, no
playwright, no actor will be able to do less under the new
legislation."

Ms Jowell acknowledged that New Labour was in a transition
period. "It is like guiding a boat down a river with a lot of
countervailing currents. There are counter-currents that want to
turn this third term INTO phpbb_a period of time marked at one end by
[Blair's] re-election and at the other end by his stepping down as
Prime Minister and almost certainly the election of Gordon Brown as
leader of the Labour Party but these are parts of a process. The
important things are achieving the policy changes."

When asked what Mr Blair's legacy will be she said it would
be "building a consensus for British politics, which is in the
centre ground". She added quickly: "But we are not at the point of
defining a legacy because that always sounds like writing a
political obituary." Clearly, she does not want to do that.