A US pollster who advised Boris Johnson has delivered an impassioned plea for Tories to stop weaponising culture war issues, warning them they would “win an election but lose the country”.
“It guarantees divisions for generations and it can get you elected but you will hate the result,” Frank Luntz told a fringe meeting at the Conservative party conference, which was packed out with Tory activists and elected officials eager to hear his advice on language and campaigning.
Luntz, who has advised US Republican politicians including George W Bush, lacerated the Conservative party for using economic jargon such as “supply-side” – a favourite of Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng.
In an exercise that generated laughter among hundreds present for the training session, he told them: “Write down supply-side. Now circle that word. Now put an X through it and don’t ever fucking use it again.”
But it was when Luntz was asked how the Tories should respond to what was described as the “woke challenge” that he became most animated, telling those present: “I say this as somebody whose country is going through hell right now – it’s not worth winning an election if you lose a country and I am losing a country right now because we are so divided and so polarised.
“It guarantees that you lose the ability to listen to each other and learn from each other.”
In this context, a slide he presented listed “words to use”, which included “British values”, “freedom of speech” and “respect”. Under “words to lose”, he listed “Britain’s legacy”, “Britain’s foundations”, “British principles/beliefs” as well as “self determination”.
In another slide, “the language of the UK”, terms to use were listed as “the truth”, “peace of mind” and “rethink”. Phrases to lose included “evidence-based”, “reimagine”, and “cooperate and compromise”.
He said the party had made a serious error by suggesting they cared more about bankers than struggling working-class people, telling those present: “I don’t get. The reason why you won in 2019 is that you’re able to appeal to people who had never voted Conservative in their life, who had never been part of a Conservative majority. And you’re giving them up.”
Asked during the session about how the Conservatives could protect their so-called red wall gains, Luntz said he was “frightened” by what was happening in the north of England and insisted the Tories needed to change their language to emphasise terms like “sacrifice” and “respect”.
He went on: “Stop using the word inflation to describe what people are going through. The average individual does not use that word. They talk about prices, affordability and costs.” He called on those present to put up their hands if they had ever been in a supermarket and had to put something back because they couldn’t afford it.
“Let me tell you something a – a third of this country has had to do that,” he said when there were few, if any, hands in the air.
