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The red Tories' true colours | Nathan Coombs

Source: The Guardian

Nov 04, 2009

Summary

Philip Blond's 'red Toryism' is inspired by a brand of theology that sits strangely with Cameron's modernising image

Political pundits will have noticed Philip Blond hitting his stride lately – speaking at numerous fringe events at the Conservative party conference, and frequently introduced on prime-time news programmes as a, if not the, "Conservative party guru". His well-funded new thinktank ResPublica is due to launch on 26 November, and he has been dubbed David Cameron's philosopher-king.

The description is apt. Blond's advocacy of "red Toryism" – a kind of communitarian, post-Thatcherite, traditional ruralist disdain for capitalism and liberalism – is really the only game in town, at least on the centre-right. It is then unlikely, as some argue, that red Tory ideas represented a mere flash in the pan in early 2009 before Cameron's reversion to more conventional Thatcherite policies. Instead, their ideas should be seen as providing critical "mood music" for Conservative electioneering.

It is therefore surprising that the philosophical roots of the red Tory

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