The Definitive Conservative Party Election Rundown

Written by Mark Harris on December 6th, 2005

Its available here, but I think, sadly, that the quote below sums it all up:

If Davis had pipped Fox in the centre-right primary David Cameron had overwhelmed Ken Clarke for the hearts and minds of the party’s pragmatists and soft left.

More interestingly:

He reprised the And Theory Of Conservatism. The And Theory said that it wasn’t necessary to ditch traditional beliefs in order to offer a broader appeal. It was possible to offer tax relief and greater public service investment. It was possible to be Eurosceptic and care for the hungry of Africa and the compassionate Tory right swooned.

Some light at the end of the tunnel:

A pledge to leave the EPP and a promise of a tax allowance for married couples was the loose change that bought David Cameron the support of the right. Leading lights of the three most important parliamentary right-wing groups endorsed him. John Hayes from Cornerstone. Gerald Howarth from the ‘92 Group. John Redwood from No Turning Back. Will they stay loyal if the exit from the EPP is kicked into the long grass and the tax incentive for marriage ends up being paltry?

Popularity may keep the right quiet as Blair’s popularity once kept Labour’s left compliant. With Hague, Fox, Duncan Smith, Fox, Osborne, Rifkind and Davis, the young king can appoint a court of enormous talent. The Conservative Party suddenly looks much more impressive than the government it shadows. The danger comes if the political climate turns hostile. The men around Cameron stop looking like a government-in-waiting and more like would-be leaders ready to catch the crown if it slips from the young king’s head.

All in all, I think Cameron is pretty much an unknown quantity who could turnout like Thatcher or could turn out like Hague, Duncan Smith, Major, etc. The UK needs a genuine and authentic conservative voice to turn the isle back from the liberalism that is destroying it. As a self-avowed Anglophile, I love British politics but there is little doubt that nearly all the Conservative’s in the UK would be moderates or liberals over the pond here in the US. Only time will tell if the UK can be saved from liberalism’s iron fist.

2 Comments so far ↓

  1. Dec
    6
    7:02
    PM
    Anonymous

    You ought to give Iain Murray a hat tip.

  2. Dec
    7
    5:04
    AM
    Mike

    He sounds great. Talked to any Englishmen lately though? They are about as politically unaware and uneducated as your typical New Englander. I don’t see the Tories making any headway in that country, if I were a Tory I would move to the States, Australia or New Zealand.

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