The Prime Minister and the Mayor of London profess to be singing from the same Conservative hymn sheet. But, says John Lehal, a look at their use of language reveals subtly different agendas

'Together in the National Interest’ was the Conservative’s conference slogan, and both the word clouds for the Prime Minister and the Mayor of London, in their own ways, echo this idea of national interest ahead of party interest. ‘Country’, ‘people’ and ‘together’ feature heavily in Cameron’s lexicon. Because for Cameron this was a coming of age speech – the address of a national leader, as much as that of a party leader.

In the same vein, Boris majors heavily on ‘London’, the ‘UK’ and ‘people’. His speech is largely anti-political – but for different reasons: putting the capital’s interests first, at the same time as demonstrating that he’s not beholden to his own party. Johnson needs to ensure, come 2012, that his re-election chances are not scuppered by his party’s potential unpopularity in poll ratings. In fact ‘Conservative’ is notable by its complete absence from both word clouds (in his speech Cameron uses the word twice, Boris only once.)

Cameron went heavy on the rhetoric but was surprisingly light on policy. Terms such as ‘spirit’, ‘together’, ‘people’, ‘just’, ‘new’, and of course ‘Big Society’, were given considerable air-time.

The apparent absence of ‘Big Society’ in Boris’ speech indicates that while the Prime Minister might be determined to sell his, still nebulous, vision for driving power down to communities, the Mayor doesn’t see this as a vote winner in London.

A key, and arguably surprising, dividing line between the two speeches was the far greater emphasis on policy by the London Mayor. Johnson’s word cloud refers ubiquitously to the ‘economy’, ‘city’, ‘work’, ‘jobs’ and ‘cuts’. And it’s clear that, as we know, he majored on specific areas of policy relevant to London, such as ‘transport’, ‘underground’ and ‘unions’. Two years into his term, the Mayor is predictably far more focussed on the specifics of policy and defending his record in office: much more so than his colleague in Downing Street who is just getting his feet under the Cabinet table.

In Cameron’s word cloud the largest ostensibly policy reference is to the ‘NHS’, followed by ‘police’. Schools are paid only lip service, and the environment is entirely absent: ‘Vote Blue. Go Green’ is nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile, Afghanistan barely got a mention by Cameron – but then this is by no means unique to politics this side of the Atlantic: in Senate and House races ahead of the US mid-terms, candidates are largely silent on the issue of war. After all, it hardly chimes with the message of optimism the Prime Minister was selling to his party members.

The elephant in the room, however, at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham when Cameron spoke, was the state of the UK’s finances. ‘Economy’ and ‘budget’ were relegated to the small print. Perhaps hardly surprising given that this was Cameron’s last opportunity to sell his message of hope ahead of the Comprehensive Spending Review, which forbears years of cuts and belt-tightening. However, it contrasts with frequent references to the state of London finances by the Mayor.

In many ways the word clouds emphasise the different positions of both leaders in their respective political cycles. One man is offering the country his leadership and political vision, the other defending both his time in office and defending the capital from the imminent cuts.

So, when Cameron addresses his conference a year from now expect a far greater emphasis on the issues which Boris majored on this year: the economy, cuts and jobs – the issues which will, after all, define the success or failure of the Coalition.

John Lehal is managing director of Insight Public Affairs