You can tell that a general election is coming when William Rees-Mogg starts using his Times column to talk up his various offspring who have been selected as Conservative candidates, linked to reminiscing about his own efforts in the Tory cause – “I recall that when I contested Dunny on the Wold in 1867 Benjamin D. was most generous in his advice and time”.
In past years these columns have entertained us with their somewhat optimistic views of likely familial success – I especially enjoyed his claims of an unsuspected Tory breakthrough in Fife!
This time two of his children have been adopted, both in Somerset, and both in Lib Dem–Tory contests. In yesterday’s Times Lord Rees-Mogg offers some thoughts on the respective contributions of Lords Ashdown and Ashcroft to their parties’ causes and provides the following impressive analysis of what is likely to happen come election day:-
I think the safe seats will remain pretty safe, but the marginals are likely to change hands.”
One to file under Department of the Bleedin’ Obvious methinks.
* Gwyn Griffiths was a Liberal Democrat councillor from 1983 to 2009, and is Chairman of his local Association.
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5 Comments
William Rees-Mogg is beginning to sound very New Labour – two of his children adopted as candidates in possibly winnable, very pleasant, neighbouring localities is just the sort of result that New Labour networking aims at. Have any of them managed it?
Frankly, ‘New’ is the last word I would associate with William Rees-Mogg ………..
The Jacob Rees-Mogg isn’t in a Tory-Lib Dem contest North East Somerset is a Tory-Labour marginal.
It’s very surprising that ‘our place to talk’ is so inaccurate on this. As Simon rightly says, we don’t have a hope of winning in N E Somerset, which is a Labour-Tory marginal, so are less interested in Jacob Rees-Mogg. David Heath’s seat of Somerton and Frome, though, that’s a different matter with a close fight between us and the Tories – which we can and will win!”
Blame me – not “our place to talk” – for any errors.
This posting was, in any event, not about our electoral prospects but about :
a) dynasticism [have I invented a word there?] in parliamentary elections
b) why a premier newspaper (!) regards a mix of the self-evident and familial promotion as “political analysis”.