Cameron backs Phillip Blond's 'Red Tory' think tank

By Ross Hawkins
Political correspondent, BBC News

They don't normally have to shut the doors at political philosophy lectures to avoid overcrowding.

Blond ambition: Think tank chief wants to change political debate

But such was the crush of people trying to hear a speech by a former theology academic at Westminster, the great Victorian hall in which he was speaking proved too small.

Would be listeners filed into an overflow room where there was a live TV feed. Outside photographers and spin doctors gathered.

The interest was not entirely down to the ideas of the speaker - Phillip Blond - who was launching a think tank named ResPublica. It had more to do with his role as David Cameron's favourite thinker.

And as if to prove the point the Conservative leader served as his warm-up act - introducing Mr Blond's speech. "There has never been a more important time for deep and radical thinking about the change we need in our country," said Mr Cameron.

'Broken society'

That endorsement has given Mr Blond a certain local celebrity status. It is nothing compared to that enjoyed by his step brother - the James Bond actor Daniel Craig - but in the tiny world of political theorists and activists that staff Westminster think tanks he is a rising star.

The Conservatives agree with much of Phillip Blond's thinking; the party has adopted his proposal to help community groups take over neglected local buildings.

Radical ideas can become political embarrassments just as quickly as they can become policies

They share his faith in the ability of communities to take on roles currently performed by central or local government. Occasionally they appear to share a phrase book too. Both warn of the dangers of a "broken society", and think they can offer conservative solutions to the problems of poverty.

But much of what Mr Blond has to say would raise the hackles of many in the party. He describes himself as a Red Tory, and to some traditional Tories he seems if not quite Red then at least a suspicious shade of pink.

He has criticised Margaret Thatcher - accusing her of creating a "loadsamoney" generation that destroyed Victorian values. He is hostile to what he sees as supermarket monopolies - and wants to give suppliers and communities more powers to challenge them. He extols what he describes as the "great triumph of the left" : the post war Labour government which laid a foundation for the modern welfare state.

'Insane' thinking

The Conservative leader's careful disclaimer - that he did not agree with everything Mr Blond said or would say in the future - will be disregarded by some. Not least because two of his own front benchers are on the think tank's advisory board.

Embracing a group of policy makers that closely poses its own political dangers. Last year another think thank close to the Conservatives - the Policy Exchange - published a report suggesting cities like Liverpool, Sunderland and Bradford were beyond revival and their residents should move south.

David Cameron said that was "insane" - but not until lots of headlines linking his party to the idea had appeared.

All this means both Conservatives and their opponents will study the output of Phillip Blond's new think tank.

Because radical ideas can become political embarrassments just as quickly as they can become policies.