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Category: Tories

Will Fox return to the cabinet?

Will Fox return to the cabinet?

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Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic How long will Cameron keep him on the backbenches? David Blunkett, Peter Mandelson (twice), Michael Heseltine, Anthony Eden, Harold Wilson and Winston Churchill all did it. They are among the few to return to the cabinet after having previously resigned for something other than electoral defeat. After Fox’s departure this week, the question is whether he’ll buck the odds and join the select band. It is not likely to be an easy route. After nearly…

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Can the Tories Tackle the Jobs Deficit?

Can the Tories Tackle the Jobs Deficit?

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HenryG on Friday There was a queer moment during this week’s Prime Minister’s Question Time where David Cameron appeared to defend his austerity measures and the rising unemployment on the grounds of keeping interest rates low. The usually assured Prime Minister looked oddly out of step focusing on his means rather than the end. With unemployment increasing to the worst levels since 1994, the pressure is on. Conservative Home Editor Tim Montgomerie goes as far as arguing ‘George Osborne has…

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Which Broken Promise Will Hurt Cameron The Most?

Which Broken Promise Will Hurt Cameron The Most?

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HenryG looks at the Conservatives’ pre-election pledges While the yellows have had to stomach u-turns on VAT and tuition fees, the Conservatives have by and large stuck to their guns on their pre-election promises in the Coalition Agreement. The Prime Minister clearly recognises how important it is for the next election that his ‘contract with the electorate’ remains intact. However there are now three fronts in which his clear pre-election pledges look to be severely tested by the next election….

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Back Jackson for Tory Scots Supremo

Back Jackson for Tory Scots Supremo

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HenryG looks at the betting for the leadership contest Some of my best political bets have been with the Conservatives. Duncan Smith (33/1) and Cameron (11/1) have both come up trumps for me in the past. Now that we know the names of qualifying candidates for the Scottish Conservative leader and have seen them in action at conference there is one name that leaps out in value. Jackson Carlaw looks tidily placed to mop up from his more fancied opponents’…

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David Cameron: the second most popular prime minister?

David Cameron: the second most popular prime minister?

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Mark Gill looks at the PM’s ratings ahead of today’s speech Prime minister David Cameron goes to Manchester as the second most popular of the last five prime ministers at the stage of their second party conferences. In Ipsos MORI’s September 2011 survey Camerons’s approval ratings were 39% satisfied and 52% dissatisfied, giving a net score of -13. This compares favourably against the -45 net approval for Brown (in Sept 2008), -27 for Major (in Sept 1992) and -23 for…

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Is the main objective to get the tone right?

Is the main objective to get the tone right?

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Will Osborne’s speech have steadied any nerves? The biggest challenge for the blues in Manchester this week is getting the tone right. Exactly two years ago at the same venue, eight months before the election, the message from Osborne and Cameron was so laden with gloom and doom that many pundits suggest that it was where they started to lose a majority. In many ways the message from Osborne in his big speech today was even more bleak than then…

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Will breaking away detoxify the Scottish Tories?

Will breaking away detoxify the Scottish Tories?

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Would autonomy stop them being seen as the English party? The 2010 general election demonstrated more dramatically than ever before the extent to which Scotland has become a different country politically. While the Conservatives made gain after gain in Wales and England, north of the border not only was there precisely no change in seats but the Conservatives actually went backwards in vote share. The proposal by the contender for the leadership of the Scottish Conservatives, Murdo Fraser MSP, to…

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