In my previous post, I speculated that the convergence between Labour and the Conservatives might backfire on them. Now Mark Pack at Lib Dem Voice points out some evidence that things are not going so well for David Cameron. In a YouGov poll for the Daily Telegraph, Cameron's net approval rating slipped to 8% from 27% in February. Every positive rating for Cameron has fallen, and a majority of people believe that 'It is hard to know what the Conservative Party stands for at the moment'.

Cameron's appeal to his own party has been based on the notion that he can recapture the centre ground of British politics; moreover, that he can repeat the achievements of Tony Blair in securing election victories for his party. But, after a bounce in the polls after his election as leader of the Conservatives, the Tory poll ratings have stalled. After a few months of dominating the media agenda, Cameron's lack of anything real to say is leaving the public bemused.

In the last decade, the Lib Dems have done well by making honest, bold policy statements - openly calling for tax rises to pay for education and health in the mid-90s, for example. Now, the Green Tax Switch forms the centrepiece of a new agenda for tax which, if promoted honestly and openly, could find genuine favour amongst a public tired of hearing vague platitudes from politicians, and tired of stealth taxes rather than honest, simple taxes that make the tax burden clear to all.

Perhaps, after a decade of style over substance under Blair, the pendulum is swinging back in favour of principled, honest politics. And that leaves those who want to imitate Blair going in the wrong direction.