Electoral battles

Kellyanne Conway: the secret weapon that won the war

Enter Kellyanne Conway. The 49-year-old political strategist and pollster became the Trump camp’s third campaign manager, the first woman to do that job for a Republican presidential campaign – and its most effective weapon. The notoriously egotistical president-elect appeared to acknowledge this on Tuesday night when the pictures from his victory party showed him with one arm casually draped around the beaming Conway’s waist as he pointed to her with the other as though saying: “Guys, it was all down to her.” A job as the White House’s next press secretary is strongly rumoured to be her reward.

So what was her secret? Conway feminised the Trump campaign, giving it an acceptable face amid the blustering machismo. A TV veteran, she hit the airwaves relentlessly, diffusing all criticisms of Trump with a sunny smile and a continued insistence that “Mr Trump has a positive vision for America”.