Great News Everyone!

[andrewducker]

After the Tory party failed to make huge strides in the recent by-elections there are mutterings of a recall and replacement of David Cameron as leader.

Which seems overly harsh to me, as expecting Conservative victories in the Labour heartlands seems unlikely to say the least. Voters who were protesting against Labour were much more likely to go Lib Dem, and indeed that's what happened.

But with any luck this will lead to the return of the massive infighting that destroyed the Tory election chances for the last 10 years, drag the party back rightwards (where their base seems to be steadily aging/shrinking) and produce a sea-change in the make-up of UK politics.

Ok, make that "with a _lot_ of luck".

Comments

[robhu.livejournal.com]

Hold on... I thought the Tories were the bad guys?

[andrewducker]

They are.

Hence my wishes...

[robhu.livejournal.com]

Ah OK.

E_NEEDMORECOFFEE

[andrewducker]

Sadly I can't trap that exception from this far away.

[robhu.livejournal.com]

Someone needs to invent tele-coffee.

Perhaps a USB powered cofee thing would be a step in the right direction?

[matgb]

They mostly are, but there have always been some that weren't evil, just stuck with a bunch of Loons. Cameron was trying to pretend that he was one of the non-evil ones, and keeps pushing Boris forward because everyone knows Boris is alright.

Thing is that the Tory base/heartlands are too stupid to realise that most of us hated Thatcher and everything she came to stand for, and dream of some "clear blue water" policy that will let them win.

Tory party can rip itself to shreds; the sane minority can then leave and we might have an opposition to NuLab that isn't evil. That'd be nice.

[andrewducker]

It would indeed.

[guyinahat.livejournal.com]

A lot of luck indeed. Anybody with half a brain cell knowes Cameron is the 'last best hope' for Conservatives.
Riding the bucking bronco of a party with ideological fractures is part of the game - Tony managed it for over ten years.

Also, unless the electoral system is reformed, the Lib Dems will never be able to step up. They don't have safe seats in large numbers, and safe seats maketh the party under FPP. So if the tories imploded again, we might get another stretch of untempered Labour.

[andrewducker]

Current best hope - hung parliament at the next election. Lib/Lab coalition which Libs agree to on the basis of PR coming in.

[guyinahat.livejournal.com]

That does seem to be the Holy Grail of Lib Dems. Of course the problem is that either of the other parties agreeing to it would be turkeys voting for Christmas.
Would Labour compromise their electoral future for the sake of one administration?

[khbrown.livejournal.com]

"And let it be noted that there is no more delicate matter to take in hand, nor more dangerous to conduct, nor more doubtful in its success, than to set up as a leader in the introduction of changes. For he who innovates will have for his enemies all those who are well off under the existing order of things, and only lukewarm supporters in those who might be better off under the new. This lukewarm temper arises partly from the fear of adversaries who have the laws on their side, and partly from the incredulity of mankind, who will never admit the merit of anything new, until they have seen it proved by the event."

Machiavelli - seemed somehow relevant to PR and Labour and Conservative positions on its introduction

[andrewducker]

Have to wait and see. Labour might do it in order to keep the Tories _out_. With PR we wouldn't have had a Conservative government since 1955...

[heron61.livejournal.com]

Knowing that your evil conservatives are a whole lots less evil and a whole lot less powerful than our evil conservatives definitely gives me hope for the future.

[missedith01.livejournal.com]

I think our best hope is that the man is obviously a bit of an idiot, and voters will gradually (and indeed are coming to) realise this.

I don't think we'll get massive infighting. Long periods in the wilderness promote sullen acquiescence in the membership - just look at Labour ...

[guyinahat.livejournal.com]

Another thought. If Labour stay in power too long, then the Tories might end up winning because people just vote for a change, rather than any ideological merit. Maybe the election after next, when we could be looking at 18 years of Labour rule. In that scenario, we might end up with some hardcore tosser like IDS or Howard.

[azalemeth.livejournal.com]

If there is one change that is sorely needed, it is the removal of the 'Tim-nice-but-dim' Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Walter Menzies Campbell. He is a very nice man - I've met him personally - but completely unelectable, rather ancient, lacking teeth, and, alas, somewhat useless. Who would I replace him with? Chris Huhne. Again, I've met him personally (my mother was friends with his sister when she was a girl), and at Hustings: he is a fantastic speaker, and one that seems to possess both a brain and a fiscally-aware social conscience. Moreover, I would hope that were he to be elected, he would more than provide the change that you, and the country, wish for...