



The Conservatives will only win the general election if they can show the electorate that they are the “warriors for the dispossessed”, Michael Gove has said.



In a sign that Downing Street is concerned by poll findings, which consistently show the party is still a tainted brand, Gove said Tories need to show voters what is in their hearts before they can hope to engage their heads.

Speaking at the launch of the Good Right group, the Tory chief whip said: “Only if we remind people of our commitment to social justice, demonstrate our belief in equality of opportunity and affirm that we are warriors for the dispossessed will we be able to win arguments, and elections, and then be in a position genuinely to help the vulnerable and the voiceless. People need to know what’s in our hearts before they are prepared to consider our arguments in their heads.”

The remarks by Gove follow months of soul-searching by senior Tories at their failure until now to pull ahead in the polls despite leading Labour on economic competence and on leadership. The internal criticism has eased off in the last 10 days amid tentative signs that the Tories might be beginning the slow process of pulling ahead of Labour in the polls.

The Tory leadership is acutely aware of the analysis of Peter Kellner, the president of the YouGov polling organisation, who has suggested that Ed Miliband will struggle to win the election because no party has won if it is behind on economic competence and leadership. But Kellner has suggested that the Tories are struggling in the polls because the party is still regarded by many voters as something of a tainted brand whose leaders are not on the side of ordinary voters.

The speech by Gove appears to be designed to address some of these concerns. The chief whip said: “It’s vital that we stress our reason for being in politics is to help others, not to implement an ideological blueprint about the size of the state or defend the interests of the already fortunate. We are in public service to help the people who need us, not just those who agree with us.”

Some Tories have expressed concerns that the party’s election campaign, which is being run by its Australian campaign director Lynton Crosby, is soulless. Crosby, who is praised as a highly effective disciplinarian, has instructed Tories to ram home two key messages: the party has a serious “long-term economic plan” for the future and voters are being offered a binary choice at the election between the competence of the Tories and the chaos of Labour.

The internal criticisms have subsided amid signs that the Tories might finally be pulling ahead of Labour in the polls. The Good Right group has been founded by the Times columnist and ConservativeHome website founder Tim Montgomerie, who is seen as a compassionate Conservative, and by Stephan Shakespeare, the co-founder and chief executive of YouGov. He has personal links to the Tories though YouGov is an impartial polling company.