This is starting to look a bit like November 1990 when Mrs. Thatcher was brought down
Suddenly the race to replace Dave as CON leader goes public as Gove lashes out at Theresa May
Ladbrokes move Gove out to 10/1 as next CON leader while others make May the 4/1 FAV.gu.com/p/3ed4v/tw twitter.com/MSmithsonPB/st…
— Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) March 13, 2013
Michael Gove rounds on ‘disloyal’ Theresa May in extraordinary Cabinet outburst. Home Sec refuses to respond. Full story in Mail tomorrow
— James Chapman (Mail) (@jameschappers) March 12, 2013
How the Mail is reporting the Gove-May skirmish twitter.com/jameschappers/… u
— Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) March 13, 2013
Public wrangling like this can only damage the party
One of the givens of modern politics is that parties that appear to be split get punished by the electorate.
So what are we to make of latest missive by leadership hopeful, Michael Gove against the Home Secretary Theresa May for her speech at the weekend? Normally these things are all done in private or by using surrogates to speak on your behalf.
What’s striking about these overnight developments is that it is Gove himself who is going public. You can only conclude that he sees Theresa May as a growing obstacle in the way of his own leadership ambitions.
The problem for the party and Cameron is that the media loves all of this magnifying each event thus creating an overall impression of splits and divisions.
Watch this space. We might just be seeing another November 1990.
Mike Smithson
For the latest polling and political betting news