Does being an old Etonian still a disqualify you from being Tory leader? Whenever the Tory leadership prospects of the Shadow Education secretary, David Cameron, are discussed on the site somone will pop and say that he is “too posh”. But is this going to hinder his chances? On November 27th 1990 the then Foreign Secretary, Douglas Hurd, came a poor third to Michael Heseltine in the Tory leadership election that saw John Major become Prime Minister. At the time…
But is it because he is the only Tory that still has “name recognition” ? A Populus Poll in the Times this morning has Ken Clarke well ahead of David Davis in the Tory leadership stakes both amongst the electorate at large and. perhaps more importantly, amongst party supporters. He beats the Shadow Home Secretary by 40% to 26% amongst the general public and by 48% to 40% amongst Conservative voters. But compared with the current second favourite, David Cameron,…
Can Rifkind impede the Davis bandwagon? With Sir Malcolm Rifkind, who returned to the Commons last month after an eight year gap, launching his bid today for the Tory leadership is there any chance that the former Foreign Secretary can upset the plans of the Shadow Home Secretary, David Davis? His pitch, according to this morning’s Telegraph, will be to the more moderate opinion within the party and the main theme of his campaign is that the Tories can only…
Do the front-runners justify their prices? If the betting is getting this right then the next General Election will see the Tory Party under David Davis seeking to stop Labour, under Gordon Brown, from securing a record fourth victory. In the Next Tory leader the best you can get on David is now 6/5 with no clear candidate emerging to make an effective challenge. David Cameron is on 6/1 and then Clarke, Lansley, Fox and Hague are on 10/1. In…
Can the Tories end their 23 year old by-election famine? Unless you aspire to be in the higher echelons of political anoraks you can be excused for not knowing that today is the 23rd anniversary of the last occasion when the Tories won a seat from another party in a Westminster by-election. For you have to go right back to Thursday June 3 1982 – three years into Mrs. Thatcher’s first term – to find a Tory by-election gain. That…
Can the Tories to expunge their Euro nightmares? Perhaps nothing demonstrated more that the Tories were not interested in returning to power was in 2001 when the party’s grass roots membership chose IDS in spite of the fact that his opponent, Ken Clarke, had the support of more Tory MPs. For those who worked closely with Clarke at Westminster knew that whatever his views on Europe he had the capability to deal with Blair in a way that the hapless…
Is the Tory leader’s authority slipping away? Michael Howard’s pleasure at seeing his lifelong love, Liverpool, pull off that sensational victory in the European Cup last night could be tempered by the problems in his party that are the main lead in early editions of the Daily Telegraph. This is suggesting that moves might be afoot to force him out “within weeks†and to have his successor in place by the end of July. The report quotes an interview with…
Will standing aside for Howard assure him the succession? Could the latest Conservative turmoil over the proposed changes in procedures for choosing the leader be just what David Davis needs to ensure that it is he who takes over from Michael Howard later in the year? For his supporters, no doubt, will remind colleagues how their man’s forbearance in October and November 2003 spared the party a divisive battle that could have left big scars in the run up to…