At the risk of monomania...
Yes, I know that I have been banging on about UKIP a bit over the last few days, but this is simply too amusing—and in keeping with the feelings of many Tories on the blogosphere—to ignore.
It seems that Spam is doing a fantastic job for the Tories, eh? As The Nameless One, whose very monicker is a peon to Spam's ineptitude, pointed out recently, "One year on and for every floating vote [Cameron] has won from the centre ground I am willing to bet he has lost two from the right."
But what made me laugh was what Mr Horton described as the tipping point.
I'm not surprised! Polly Toynbee is not only a deeply misguided woman but a massive hypocrite to boot: I wonder if she'll be joining the Tories anytime soon? Given how Green the Tories suposedly are (though we've yet to see any policies, only promises of more "green" taxes), perhaps she's persuade Georges Moonbat to come with her?
It's very true. And the more high-quality, experienced campaigners that we get on board, they better. It can only help to make the party more professional.
No, it isn't, as I keep poiting out. That's right, UKIP is so dedicated to a single-issue that we are attracting experienced Tory campaigners. Even were we dedicated to merely one issue, that issue is so important as to eclipse all others, frankly. The Tories will be unable to do anything effective anyway: Barroso says "no".
Actually, I think it likely that this is the case. I think that the Tories will—narrowly—win the next election; they will then prove themselves to be no different to NuLabour and it will be at the following general election that UKIP will have its chance to really shine. Though I would love to see even one UKIP MP elected this time around, simply because it enables the party to be able to table questions in the House and thus raise the issues that no one else is.
In the meantime, let's see if we can gain the support of some more Conservatives...
He joined the Conservatives 40 years ago and fought a number of elections for the party he loved, taking on Tony Blair in Sedgefield in 1983. He was constituency chairman to William Hague, when he was in the Cabinet and the party’s leader.
But the Tory party’s recent embrace of the left-wing columnist Polly Toynbee has stretched Toby Horton’s loyalty beyond breaking point.
In the most high-profile of a wave of defections that is shaking the party leadership, Mr Hague’s former constituency chairman has resigned from the Conservative Party and joined the United Kingdom Independence Party. Other defections include a local party chairman and another former parliamentary candidate.
It seems that Spam is doing a fantastic job for the Tories, eh? As The Nameless One, whose very monicker is a peon to Spam's ineptitude, pointed out recently, "One year on and for every floating vote [Cameron] has won from the centre ground I am willing to bet he has lost two from the right."
But what made me laugh was what Mr Horton described as the tipping point.
“I didn’t leave the Conservative Party, the Conservative Party has left me,” Mr Horton said yesterday at his home in Mr Blair’s constituency.
...
Mr Horton’s frustration has been building as Mr Cameron has tried to shed the party’s “nasty” image by ditching its past, focusing on issues such as the environment and social justice, and promising to show love to louts. But the final straw for Mr Horton came last month when the party embraced Ms Toynbee, who has made a career out of attacking all things right-wing. A Conservative policy review suggested that the party adopt her views on poverty rather than Winston Churchill’s, and Mr Cameron suggested that she would be invited to next year’s party conference.
“There was a Polly Toynbee moment — that was the tipping point,” said Mr Horton...
I'm not surprised! Polly Toynbee is not only a deeply misguided woman but a massive hypocrite to boot: I wonder if she'll be joining the Tories anytime soon? Given how Green the Tories suposedly are (though we've yet to see any policies, only promises of more "green" taxes), perhaps she's persuade Georges Moonbat to come with her?
Another defector is Mark Hudson, 36, a vice-president of the Bank of America, who was president and chairman of the Sevenoaks Conservative Association in Kent, and on the official Conservative candidates’ list.
“The way Cameron has led the party means I can’t be part of it, and there’s lots of people like me,” he said. “He’s turned it into something indistinguishable from new Labour, so what’s the point?” Kevin Davidson Hall, a former Conservative candidate in Peterborough, has also defected, declaring: “UKIP are now the only voice of opposition in this country, speaking up for all those who feel betrayed by the other parties.”
It's very true. And the more high-quality, experienced campaigners that we get on board, they better. It can only help to make the party more professional.
A clearly rattled Conservative headquarters issued a statement declaring: “UKIP is a party of the few dedicated to a single issue."
No, it isn't, as I keep poiting out. That's right, UKIP is so dedicated to a single-issue that we are attracting experienced Tory campaigners. Even were we dedicated to merely one issue, that issue is so important as to eclipse all others, frankly. The Tories will be unable to do anything effective anyway: Barroso says "no".
"The Conservative Party is the only political party that can replace this failing Labour Government.”
Actually, I think it likely that this is the case. I think that the Tories will—narrowly—win the next election; they will then prove themselves to be no different to NuLabour and it will be at the following general election that UKIP will have its chance to really shine. Though I would love to see even one UKIP MP elected this time around, simply because it enables the party to be able to table questions in the House and thus raise the issues that no one else is.
In the meantime, let's see if we can gain the support of some more Conservatives...
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4 Blogger Comments:
The tories will not win the next election. Their lead is so slight that the numbers lead towards it being a hung parliament. I don't see it improving much. And Cameron's offering no vision. Well, except lots of green policies (which no-one much cares about).
The Conservatives may think they're appealing to the "middle ground" but they're not. They seem to think that Polenta eaters are the "middle ground". They have no idea. Most of the conservatives don't have the background of a Thatcher, Tebbit or Major, nor have they worked in industries where they would get an understanding of the working man's needs (like Archie Norman would have got). When they meet the working man, it's through a distorted lens. Many seem to have done almost nothing but be advisors to the Conservative Party. So, they have an old-fashioned Toryism more aligned with Macmillan than Thatcher.
Cameron and co are focussing on green issues and other soft stuff. Important issues, but not what sells to people like the ex-roofers and sales reps and that I know. What they want is good schools, safe streets, hospitals that work and an economy that works. Blair's success was that the people around him knew this. Clinton's team schooled Brown and Blair in this. Alistair Campbell understood Sun, Mirror, Express and Mail readers.
Cameron's press man (George Eustace) said that they were going to concentrate more on TV as their strategy. Hence, the BBC agenda they're following. But it's a doomed policy. It won't work. The Naughties and Humphreys of this world are talked up as important, but have no influence outside the chattering classes.
I wouldn't get too enthusiastic just yet, DK.
Now if David Horton quits the Tories for UKIP in the Vicar of Dible Crimbo special, then you'll have something to crow about.
Similar sentiments I told the woman from the Tory party who phoned me just before the last local elections asking if I would be out voting for the Conservatives, as I had always done. I told her that as soon as a Conservative party appeared I would vote for it but in the meantime I would be looking elsewhere.
as a firm tory till DC came along I have been looking for a new home.used to be on assoc exec,top leaflet deliverer (mainly because we had no help)election agent etc,I campaigned (taking time off work) for what i believed in.I will not campaign for someone as philosophically vacuous as DC.
Saw ed vaizey on newsnight last night and just thought after 9 years is this what we've come to.Sitting there not answering straight points thinking we're being clever.my heart sank.A lot of the membership are too blindly loyal but blind faith in bad leaders ets you killed.the tories are still a party run by posh people for posh people
farage whho I saw on doughty street came across well and seems keen to build from the bottom up at a local level.that is why the lib dems have done so well in the last twenty years.
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