We keep reading in the Westminster-centric press about the “resurgent” Tory party but what’s really going on? Like lots of you I’ve been riveted by the conservativehome website and what appears to be meltdown in the conservative associations out there in the sticks. OK only four associations have come seriously unstuck, but is this the tip of the iceberg?
I always thought Dave was going to run into trouble with his grassroots. Think about that solid 30% of the electorate who stuck with the Tories through all the wilderness years. They really hate Europe. They truly believe in low taxes, small government and the welfare state as a simple safety net for the indigent. They think being green means support for foxhunters because they “look after the countryside” (you bet they do, how else are there still going to be foxes to hunt?).
These are the people who run Conservative associations and Dave has been pissing all over them. The results are plain to see with a click on Candidates and Seats on Conservativehome. They do not want some bright-eyed, bushy-tailed A-lister and if one is forced down their throat, they’ll undermine her tirelessly till she gives up. They want what they’ve always wanted: a white, male, europhobic right-wing headbanger and by golly they’re going to have him. Yes, they’ll play at open primaries (gets them round the rules on having to have women on the shortlist apparently…) but they can always ignore the result if it isn’t the one they want.
Same old nasty Tory party. Whee!
But wait a minute. Perhaps it isn’t all that funny. The Tories are ahead in the polls. There are plenty of innocents out there who think Dave is a nice guy, who don’t read conservativehome and who may well go out and vote for a Tory next time. Some of the Tory grassroots may defect to UKIP or the BNP, but most of them won’t – after all they’ve selected the right kind of guy, haven’t they?
Then what happens? My nightmare scenario is Dave in Downing Street, with a small majority. Behind him the grim-faced ranks of above-mentioned right wing europhobes. What chance would he have to sticking to his green, hoodie-hugging agenda then? Zero.
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13 Comments
Is this so? tell me, why are so many Lib Dems in pacts with the Conservatives in local government? You do yourself no favours by making such unfounded and crass comments.
Unfounded crass such as “gay couples are a tiny majoirty so no need to bother about them” or
“married couples are the only safe way for kids to be raised”…that sort of thing Mark??
That ‘tiny minority’ comment was stupid, but in statistical terms they are insignificant. That is a simple fact. It doesn’t mean in personal terms they mean nothing, but in general statistical terms they aren’t even a blip on the horizon.
Also, why this assumption that small government and low taxes is a bad thing. Isn’t that what Liberals used to argue for? The welfare state as a safety net and a structure to climb back up is far better than what we have now – a system which breeds dependency, encourages laziness and discourages work?
As for that stupid fox hunting comment: Yes, they look after the countryside for that reason, why is that a bad one? Give people some stake in something and they will ensure that it has a future. If you don’t you end up with those communal areas in housing estates which have fallen into ruin, or something like the Common Fisheries Policy which is an absurd system which is harming fish stocks.
I’m no Tory, I am a Liberal. Liberalism is about freeing individuals, we don’t do that by having a big state, high taxes and a smothering welfare state which discourages initiative and work.
(as for the anti-Europe thing, and the social conservatism, those are definitely places to fight the Tories – there is much wrong with the Conservative view of the world- the nationalism and jingoism, the social authoritarianism and the big state in the military and security areas)
I’m also a liberal. Like it or not, it’s the Conservatives who are the liberal party at the moment, not the Fib Dems. If the Liberals were truly liberal, I’d join tomorrow.
Gosh! MPDAWE, you’re a liberal, are you? Really?
What, then, do you make of Michael Gove MP (Washington’s eyes and ears in the Shadow Cabinet) calling for the return of National Service? And what about The Conservative Party’s love affair with the late and unlamented Augusto Pinochet Ugarte? Very liberal, torture, isn’t it? And overthrowing elected governments. That’s the true mark of liberalism.
And how can you bear to be in the company of neo-Hegelian social conservatives like Adrian Rogers, Roger Scruton and Peter Hitchens?
True liberals should be excoriating the Blair government for extending educational conscription to 18, paying lawyers to defend the mandatory retirement age, and ending the right to trial by jury in complex fraud cases.
If Cameron got to work on some of these, I might have some respect for him.
But then I forget. Cameron is Washington’s man. Their preferred insurance policy is John Reid, illiberalism personified; but despite all the devious efforts of Mr Luntz, they cannot make the Labour Party membership love him.
Oh, by the way. If Iain Duncan Smith really believes in “family values”, why does he send his kids too boarding schools?
Adrian Rogers defected to UKIP in late 1997. Hitchens is not a Party member.
Do you actually think that the Tories are “liberal” at grass root level…I think not!!
Come on, MPDAWE, at least have the guts to defend General Pinochet. Most of the Shadow Cabinet does.
The problem is that Cameron has not yet been able to make up his mind on this point. Until he does so, Conservative loyalists are not being given a lead and do not know what to say. Something tell me, however, that there is a study group now set up to see which way public opinion is moving.
Look at what happened at the B and C by-election, two a listers one a woman, one from a BME background, and one a white middle class barrister… …guess who the members picked….
….the dinosaurs are revolting, but not revolting enough, if you know what I mean…
Hmm, and who do we pick as our leader, ah yes the old and useless Ming! We are hardly a party to patronise others about their leadership choice.
I mean even with Cameron the Tories are roughly double our support in the polls. Cheers Ming you useless old duffer!
I think “Ming must go” is jealous of Ming’s superior intellect. Hitler had a similar problem, if I recall. (The only intellectual Hitler looked up to was Albert Speer. The rest he packed off to the camps.)