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Next Week’s 1922 Committee Elections Are About More Than Left And Right – Or A Vote Of Confidence In David Cameron
Few things are certain in politics, and even fewer when the political body in question is the 1922 Committee, the body that represents backbench Conservative MPs. It elects its officers and executive at the start of each Parliamentary session, and since a new one has just begun a poll will take place next week. Hats [...]
Adam Smith’s Resignation – And Three Challenges To Spads
I spoke to two Government special advisers in the wake of the resignation of Adam Smith – the former special adviser, or SPAD as the breed are known in the trade, who resigned after the controversy over Jeremy Hunt and Rupert Murdoch’s BSkyB bid broke. I wanted to get a sense of whether they felt [...]
The Great Commons Game Of Stop-Start Is No Fun For Ed Miliband
Respect’s triumph in the Bradford by-election and a survey showing UKIP at 11 per cent (it’s worth adding that the polling company concerned prompts for minor party responses) have re-fired the debate about the future of the three main parties. Parliament and the Commons, too, are held in low esteem: some voters question whether they [...]
With The Liberal Democrats In Government, Other By-Election Protest Vehicles Are Required. Hence Galloway’s Election Yesterday
Bradford West voted for George Galloway because Respect mobilised Muslims to vote on a religious basis. Bradford West voted for Galloway because white working class voters failed to support Labour. Bradford West voted for him because of the failures of the local Labour council, and because the party’s candidate was that council’s Deputy Leader. The [...]
The Paradox Of The Quad – Agreement About Policy But Disagreement About Politics. The Liberal Democrats Have Adopted A Strategy Of Leaking Its Proceedings For Electoral Gain. It Will Continue.
As the budget’s contents started to be leaked almost exactly two weeks before its presentation, I wrote on ConservativeHome that George Osborne was losing control of it, and wondered what he would do to get this back. But I confess that after writing the article I had second thoughts. After all, the Chancellor has the [...]
The Biggest Ideas on the Centre Right Roundtable
ConservativeIntelligence hosted a breakfast for Silver and Dining Club members. Our guest speakers were Mark Littlewood of the Institute of Economic Affairs; Neil O’Brien of Policy Exchange and Gavin Poole of the Centre for Social Justice.
The Spotlight Falls On 40p Britain
Conservatives want to scrap the 50p tax rate. Liberal Democrats want to raise thresholds. For months, debate about the budget and income tax has focused on these aspirations, and the two groups involved: poorer workers who earn enough to pay tax, and some of the richest people in Britain. This week has seen a sudden [...]
Coming Soon To A Parliament Near You: The Slow Motion Horror Movie Of Lords Reform
In a parallel universe, the Government’s plans for the coming new Parliamentary session would be considered in a disinterested way – entirely on the merits of the proposals themselves. For better or worse, this is not the world that David Cameron and Nick Clegg inhabit. And no single item of Coalition business is more likely [...]
A Few Short Articles…..
THE NHS BILL: Some of you may have noticed that I caused a bit of a media fuss ten days ago when I argued that the Coalition should drop the Health and Social Care Bill (http://conho.me/wB4Gij). I certainly wasn’t expecting my advice to be heeded and it hasn’t been. The Government ploughs on in the teeth of public opposition, holding seminars on the reforms which exclude the major representatives of NHS staff. Anyway I’m not wanting to continue my mini-campaign here.
This Week’s Curtain-Raiser For The Battle For The ’22
The victory of George Hollingberry over Chris Kelly in this week’s by-election for a vacancy on the 1922 Committee’s Executive didn’t exactly make national headlines – understandably enough. But appearances are deceptive: this apparently narcoleptic event was actually part of a lively drama that could impact on the future of the Government. David Cameron has [...]
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