David Cameron was regarded as a rather establishment figure as prime minister. This is partly due to having been educated at Eton College – through no fault of his own. For most of his time in Downing Street, he was also constrained from operating in a true coalition with the Liberal Democrats. Yet in terms of domestic policy, Cameron’s was the most reformist premiership of recent times. His director of strategy, or ‘guru’, in the period preparing for government, as well as for the first two years in power, was Steve Hilton.
It wasn’t altogether a surprise that Hilton found Downing Street a frustrating place to work and departed early. His ‘blue sky thinking’ prompted inevitable clashes with the Civil Service. Some regarded him as the epitome of trendy Cameroonian modernisation. This made him a figure of suspicion among some traditional Conservative right-wingers, as satirised in the comedy series ‘The Thick of It’ – where the Hilton figure was depicted in the character of Stewart Pearson. There would be risible jargon and brainstorming bonding sessions with everyone sitting on the floor.
The rhetoric of social liberalism, environmentalism and corporate social responsibility that emanated from Hilton led some to conclude he was a Lefty interloper.
Hilton’s shaven head and unshaven chin, combined with a habit of keeping his shoes off, wearing T-shirts and travelling by bike rather than car, all contributed to his iconoclastic reputation. Some (wrongly) concluded he was more interested in communication, a focus on image and language, rather than policy.
Given this background, there was not much surprise when he went to live in California – lecturing at Stanford University, taking part in a Silicon Valley technology startup company. What was more startling was when he bobbed up on Fox News to endorse Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election. Now we hear that Hilton has had enough of being a TV pundit or backroom advisor and is seeking elected office for himself. He wishes to follow Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger in being elected on the Republican ticket as Governor of California.
It will be an electoral challenge. The Democrats have had a commanding lead in the Golden State for some years. Taxes have risen with damaging results – but many voters have become tax exiles to Texas or Florida. Woke excesses have produced a similar demographic shift. Thus there has been the paradox that Democrat failures have bolstered their electoral grip by prompting their opponents to flee.
Still, it is welcome that Hilton is giving it a go in the election next year. Gavin Newsom, the incumbent Democrat governor, is term-limited and can’t stand again – which opens up the contest a bit.
Hilton strikes me as a good fit for California. His informal manner will be more appealing there than the stuffed shirt manner of some of his colleagues. Though a loyal Trump supporter, his temperament is quite different. Hilton is more interested in the battle of ideas than personal abuse. He is suited to a much more optimistic and positive message than Trump.
So far as Hilton’s convictions go, he has maintained greater intellectual consistency than might be supposed. His final memo before leaving Downing Street called for £25 billion in welfare cuts and a halving in the size of the civil service. His championing of the ‘big society’ was about rolling back the state, with community groups being encouraged to fill the gap. Hilton’s successor, Dominic Cummings, would also have bold thoughts and become impatient with administrative constraints. But Cummings is not a small state man – a big state suited him fine, provided he was the one who got to decide where the money should be ‘invested’ and what regulations should be imposed.
Hilton’s fervent belief in individual liberty and the free market can partly be explained by his family background. His parents emigrated from Hungary during the attempted uprising of 1956. So the dangers of the big state were not just an abstract concept. Then there is Hilton’s wife Rachel Whetstone, who until recently worked as Chief Communications Officer at Netflix. Her grandfather, Antony Fisher, founded the Institute of Economic Affairs. Hilton is also a critic of multinational companies – which he feels have become too remote and prone to use the power of corporate lobbying to squeeze out competition from small firms. But this should not be interpreted as opposition to the free market.
What would he do in office? Hilton has already written a book outlining his thinking – ‘Califailure: Reversing the Ruin of America’s Worst-Run State’.
On his campaign website, we can spot some of his old tunes being applied to new circumstances.
There is a nod to the ‘big society’: ‘Let’s create something new that brings Californians together. A universal program for citizenship and service that enables young people to meet and spend time with others from different backgrounds, To work side by side on common goals.’ He sees that as a counter to divisive identity politics.
There is a particular concern to boost small firms:
We need a complete rethink of how we regulate small business. California was recently assessed as having the worst business climate of all 50 states. That makes no sense: we should be the best! If we want California to be the engine of innovation and opportunity, we must reform our tax and regulatory regime in modern, creative ways.
He calls for social mobility to tackle ‘the highest poverty rate in the nation, as well as the lowest literacy’, which are ‘terrible outcomes’ which ‘disproportionately hurt Latino and Black families’.
Increasing the housing supply is another worthy cause: ‘We have to take on all the special interests that are making it harder, most costly, and more time-consuming to build the homes California needs’.
Other pledges include removing the state income tax for every Californian earning $100,000 with a flat tax of 7.5% for incomes above that.
Hilton’s campaign video puts emphasis on his belief in freedom and his admiration for Margaret Thatcher as he was growing up over here.
Will he make it? The odds must be against him. But he has the right message and has no shortage of confidence and ambition. If he makes it, I wonder if he will call in David Cameron as an advisor…
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