tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21724748.post2887096658991098987..comments2023-09-26T15:14:50.352+01:00Comments on Conservative Party Reptile: Total and complete tosserTim Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705980028580424584noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21724748.post-56677845267991175832007-07-22T22:34:00.000+01:002007-07-22T22:34:00.000+01:00It was a bad result - especially considering the e...It was a bad result - especially considering the efforts made (bizarrely) to manage expectations up. Grant Shapps (who I'd assumed was a low level CCHQ wonk rather than an MP) was a complete failure. I'm really not trying to whitewash the result: it was poor.<BR/><BR/>However, and this isn't a whitewash - promise - compared to how the Tories have been doing in by-elections it wasn't catastrophic either. My complaint with Heffer is that he is visibly delighting in any Tory travails he can think of. He represents, par excellence, the line of thought that holds that sterile ideological purity is an end in itself, and that there should be 'no compromise with the electorate'.<BR/><BR/>My favourite political writers, O'Rourke, Matthew Parris or Simon Hoggart (just to show my broad church...) write with a little sideways smile. Heffer writes with a sneer, and that's not attractive or engaging. I'll write a better post about the Tories soon - and please take me up on it!Tim Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03705980028580424584noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21724748.post-79719373545208146652007-07-22T17:05:00.000+01:002007-07-22T17:05:00.000+01:00For the Conservatives a strong showing would be ve...<I>For the Conservatives a strong showing would be very welcome indeed. It would bolster Cameron, rattle Brown and restore the momentum behind the Tories.</I><BR/><BR/>The problem for the Tories is that they had allowed people to think that they might do well (as per your comment quoted above), and they had done that because (apart from mis-reading the racial politics), if moving to the centre-ground can't gain votes in left-leaning constituencies, what is the point? They needed to deliver to justify Project Cameron, and they failed. I'm no particular fan of Heffer, but attempts to rebrand this result as "not a failure" look as credible as attempts to rebrand Tony Lit as a Tory did to the Ealing & Southall electorate. If this wasn't a failure, why has Cameron dropped Grant Shapps?bgpriorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00628170401069060830noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21724748.post-21381632481953992782007-07-21T16:14:00.000+01:002007-07-21T16:14:00.000+01:00Simon Heffer is an orthodox conservative, and a gi...Simon Heffer is an orthodox conservative, and a gifted writer. He articulated exactly what the tribal elders are thinking, and what all older conservatives believe.<BR/>Cameron is the isomeric copy of Blair, which was indeed what he has worked to achieve. Comically The Greet Broon has moved right to occupy the space the people wish to be filled. Which leaves Cameron outflanked and irrelevant.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21724748.post-49993947904035680062007-07-21T14:17:00.000+01:002007-07-21T14:17:00.000+01:00A great defence but the result was indeed shamboli...A great defence but the result was indeed shambolic. As a TRG member, I received a last minute rallying cry for help with the campaign on polling day (a little late by then?) in what they called "a two horse race".<BR/><BR/>Coming third in a two horse race isn't something to be proud of - it's a shambles. The party still has much to think about...Richard Speigalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03696789663795728787noreply@blogger.com