Dave's Friends In The North

As a native north-easterner, Anne remembers the animosity toward the Conservative Party in the north during the Thatcher era. But now the Tories have set their sights on a revival in the north as a means of clinching an election victory.

In this programme, Anne asks why Cameron's Tories need the north. She argues that it goes beyond a blunt electoral need to win back seats held under Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. Cameron wants to be a One Nation Tory, so this is also a matter of culture and credibility.

But is forging a One Nation party a losing battle, particularly for a leader based firmly in a metropolitan elite? Or could he emulate that other well-heeled public school southerner, Harold Macmillan, who used his Stockton seat as a launchpad to power by identifying with the north?

Interviewees include William Hague, Michael Gove, Alan Duncan, Hazel Blears, Nick Clegg and Professor John Curtice.

Anne McElvoy asks why David Cameron's Tories need the north.

As a native north-easterner, Anne remembers the animosity toward the Conservative Party in the north during the Thatcher era. But now the Tories have set their sights on a revival in the north as a means of clinching an election victory.

In this programme, Anne asks why Cameron's Tories need the north. She argues that it goes beyond a blunt electoral need to win back seats held under Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. Cameron wants to be a One Nation Tory, so this is also a matter of culture and credibility. But is forging a One Nation party a losing battle, particularly for a leader based firmly in a metropolitan elite? Or could he emulate that other well-heeled public school southerner, Harold Macmillan, who used his Stockton seat as a launchpad to power by identifying with the north?

Interviewees include William Hague, Michael Gove, Alan Duncan, Hazel Blears, Nick Clegg and Professor John Curtice.

Anne McElvoy asks why Cameron's Tories need the north.