David Gauke: Bemoaning the people and prospectus behind Prosper UK is just part of politics – but at least get it right
Transparency shouldn't be controversial.
David Gauke is a former Justice Secretary and was an independent candidate in South-West Hertfordshire at the 2019 general election.
Prosper UK is now a week old.
We launched last Monday and our first week’s objectives have been met.
We have inserted ourselves into the debate about the future of the right of British politics, a debate which – with a little bit of help from Suella Braverman – has been particularly prominent in recent days.
We obtained the backing of 70 senior Conservative politicians, not one of whom leaked the story to the press (who says nothing changes), and the post-launch reception was upbeat, well-attended and demonstrated support from people of all ages. The number of people signing up to support, is well ahead of our expectations.
This is not to say that those of us involved in Prosper UK have escaped all criticism.
We have been accused of being long-forgotten and irrelevant has-beens from the 2010s. We have also been accused of driving the Conservative Party to catastrophic defeat of 2024. It is not possible for both of these statements to be true.
We are criticised for fighting the battles of the past by people who, in the next breath, tell us how wrong we were back in the day (which sounds remarkably like fighting the battles of the past).
We are told that we are the voices of the status quo by those who have most enthusiastically supported the direction of the party in our most recent time in government.
And we are also told that we are not Conservatives, by supporters of a political party – or of reaching an accommodation with that party – that has the express intention to destroy the Conservatives.
It is undeniably fair to say that the word “former” features frequently among our publicly declared backers.
We did not ask current MPs to declare support (we need to maintain independence and such a request might put them and the party in a difficult position), but there is also the harsh and regrettable reality that there are many Conservative former ministers – and no current ones. And if we had put forward the names of people who have never been MPs or peers or council group leaders, there would have been complaints about the obscurity of our supporters.
The most annoying charge is that we are the ones responsible for the near wipe-out in 2024. It is annoying not only because it is untrue, but also to argue this point requires time and effort on explaining the events of 2019 and subsequently. This, in turn, gives credence to the criticism that we are re-fighting old battles when we want to talk about the future.
We are damned either way.
I will try – briefly – to refute the argument that the Tory centre right and, in particular, those of us involved in Prosper UK caused the 2024 defeat.
It is very …
Transparency shouldn't be controversial.
David Gauke is a former Justice Secretary and was an independent candidate in South-West Hertfordshire at the 2019 general election.
Prosper UK is now a week old.
We launched last Monday and our first week’s objectives have been met.
We have inserted ourselves into the debate about the future of the right of British politics, a debate which – with a little bit of help from Suella Braverman – has been particularly prominent in recent days.
We obtained the backing of 70 senior Conservative politicians, not one of whom leaked the story to the press (who says nothing changes), and the post-launch reception was upbeat, well-attended and demonstrated support from people of all ages. The number of people signing up to support, is well ahead of our expectations.
This is not to say that those of us involved in Prosper UK have escaped all criticism.
We have been accused of being long-forgotten and irrelevant has-beens from the 2010s. We have also been accused of driving the Conservative Party to catastrophic defeat of 2024. It is not possible for both of these statements to be true.
We are criticised for fighting the battles of the past by people who, in the next breath, tell us how wrong we were back in the day (which sounds remarkably like fighting the battles of the past).
We are told that we are the voices of the status quo by those who have most enthusiastically supported the direction of the party in our most recent time in government.
And we are also told that we are not Conservatives, by supporters of a political party – or of reaching an accommodation with that party – that has the express intention to destroy the Conservatives.
It is undeniably fair to say that the word “former” features frequently among our publicly declared backers.
We did not ask current MPs to declare support (we need to maintain independence and such a request might put them and the party in a difficult position), but there is also the harsh and regrettable reality that there are many Conservative former ministers – and no current ones. And if we had put forward the names of people who have never been MPs or peers or council group leaders, there would have been complaints about the obscurity of our supporters.
The most annoying charge is that we are the ones responsible for the near wipe-out in 2024. It is annoying not only because it is untrue, but also to argue this point requires time and effort on explaining the events of 2019 and subsequently. This, in turn, gives credence to the criticism that we are re-fighting old battles when we want to talk about the future.
We are damned either way.
I will try – briefly – to refute the argument that the Tory centre right and, in particular, those of us involved in Prosper UK caused the 2024 defeat.
It is very …
David Gauke: Bemoaning the people and prospectus behind Prosper UK is just part of politics – but at least get it right
Transparency shouldn't be controversial.
David Gauke is a former Justice Secretary and was an independent candidate in South-West Hertfordshire at the 2019 general election.
Prosper UK is now a week old.
We launched last Monday and our first week’s objectives have been met.
We have inserted ourselves into the debate about the future of the right of British politics, a debate which – with a little bit of help from Suella Braverman – has been particularly prominent in recent days.
We obtained the backing of 70 senior Conservative politicians, not one of whom leaked the story to the press (who says nothing changes), and the post-launch reception was upbeat, well-attended and demonstrated support from people of all ages. The number of people signing up to support, is well ahead of our expectations.
This is not to say that those of us involved in Prosper UK have escaped all criticism.
We have been accused of being long-forgotten and irrelevant has-beens from the 2010s. We have also been accused of driving the Conservative Party to catastrophic defeat of 2024. It is not possible for both of these statements to be true.
We are criticised for fighting the battles of the past by people who, in the next breath, tell us how wrong we were back in the day (which sounds remarkably like fighting the battles of the past).
We are told that we are the voices of the status quo by those who have most enthusiastically supported the direction of the party in our most recent time in government.
And we are also told that we are not Conservatives, by supporters of a political party – or of reaching an accommodation with that party – that has the express intention to destroy the Conservatives.
It is undeniably fair to say that the word “former” features frequently among our publicly declared backers.
We did not ask current MPs to declare support (we need to maintain independence and such a request might put them and the party in a difficult position), but there is also the harsh and regrettable reality that there are many Conservative former ministers – and no current ones. And if we had put forward the names of people who have never been MPs or peers or council group leaders, there would have been complaints about the obscurity of our supporters.
The most annoying charge is that we are the ones responsible for the near wipe-out in 2024. It is annoying not only because it is untrue, but also to argue this point requires time and effort on explaining the events of 2019 and subsequently. This, in turn, gives credence to the criticism that we are re-fighting old battles when we want to talk about the future.
We are damned either way.
I will try – briefly – to refute the argument that the Tory centre right and, in particular, those of us involved in Prosper UK caused the 2024 defeat.
It is very …
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