LORD SAATCHI may yet profit from the “success” of a Tory election campaign that the former party co-chairman acknowledged yesterday had failed because it treated the public as “morons”.

The Immediate Sales company, a subsidiary of M&C Saatchi, began pitching for new business last week on the back of its work for the Conservatives this year. In a letter to potential clients, Michael Moszynski, the chief executive of a firm which is 80 per cent owned by Lord Saatchi’s advertising empire, claimed: “We created a campaign that, while it might not have won the party the election, did help to secure their biggest electoral success for 22 years.”

The brochure reproduced Tory adverts including the slogan, “Are you thinking what we’re thinking?” and controversial posters such as “It’s not racist to impose limits on immigration”. Such a verdict is in stark contrast to Lord Saatchi’s own analysis yesterday in a pamphlet for the Centre for Policy Studies think-tank.

He accepted his responsibility, as co-chairman of the party until last month, for a campaign which had not projected a “noble purpose”. Instead, it had been led by focus group research and opinion polls. “If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything,” he said. Lord Saatchi said the Tories were wrong to fight the election on the “number one issue of immigration” and had underestimated voters’ intelligence by promising lower taxes when taxes would have to rise. He went on to attack a strategy that treated the public like “morons” who could only understand a message if it was delivered by Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt.

Comparing the election to a “Basil Fawlty” campaign, he said the Conservatives had made a major mistake of saying “don’t mention the economy” — a policy area which had traditionally been a strength for the party. He also criticised the way Michael Howard sacked Howard Flight after The Times disclosed a recording of the him bosting about a secret cuts agenda.

Last night Mr Moszynski said: “We did a good job of producing a campaign based on our brief. Our job was not to set the policy agenda for the Conservative Party.”

Some of Lord Saatchi’s chief targets appears to be those behind what he described yesterday as the “fiction of focus groups . . . the myth that target seats might be different . . . and the illusion of research”.

He is said to blame a group of relatively young aides in the Tory leadership for marginalising his influence on key issues such as tax, the role of the state, and the party’s “timetable for action” message last year. His authority was further undermined when Lynton Crosby, the Australian political strategist, was imported to oversee the campaign.

One senior campaign figure said: “Of course there was a lack of clear strategy and vision. Maurice (Saatchi) wasn’t the only one saying that, but the way the campaign came out was down to Michael Howard and Maurice is really having a go at him.”

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