In the Spectator a couple of weeks ago Fraser Nelson outlined the lengths the Conservative Party is going to in its preparations for Government. According to Nelson a high level of preparedness has already been achieved. An implementation Unit is at work in CCHQ and a team of former civil servants will be assigned to assist each member of the Shadow Cabinet to organise the transfer to Government. It is, of course, vitally important that the Conservative Party is able to hit the ground running and its good news that the Conservatives are serious about power and their responsibility to govern

But success in Government is not only a matter of detailed plans. Nelson’s article reminded me of the sad example of the Heath Government, probably the most prepared administration in British political history. Before the 1970 election the Central Office had worked out how Government was to be reorganised and Trade Union power curtailed through industrial relations legislation. Yet things soon began to go wrong and Heath was left floundering, not just because things in the country were so bad but because he lacked bedrock beliefs that would have given him the strength to act decisively and stick by his decisions. Heath’s folly was that of a modern technocrat. He though that plans were more important than ideas; detail more important than vision.   

Fortunately, as David Cameron’s speech this week on morality demonstrates, Conservatives do have a powerful and compelling vision of the kind of society they wish to build. As they move closer to power they must not lose sight of that vision.