Andrew Willshire: Reform is a Frankenstein’s monster of a party
Confidence requires clarity.
Andrew Willshire is founder of the independent strategic analytics consultancy Diametrical Ltd.
Ever since the election, there has been a fashion among parts of the right-wing commentator class to tour news studios to demand that the Conservative party have some sort of “reckoning”, an “inquisition” into how and why it failed.
It’s usually adjacent to a more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger, I-didn’t-leave-the party-the-party-left-me bleating of a slightly unattractive nature, reminiscent of the spurned-husband-who-gave-the-best-years-of-his-life, and has just joined Fathers-for-Justic… sorry, I mean Reform.
Yes, anyone who has given their life to a political party will feel a strong attachment to it. No, that does not mean that they can see the party’s future more clearly than others. It’s pure solipsism; “I’m hurt, so I demand that the party act in a way to make me feel better. I’m sorry to break it to the Monties of the world, but there is no great appetite in the country for a period of public self-flagellation on the part of the Conservative party.
The public at large moved rapidly from thinking the Tories should be removed from office to ignoring them entirely once they had been. When they are ready to hear from them again, it will be a “What are you going to do now?” conversation, not “Can we first talk about last time?”
More particularly, it is apparent that the reckoning that they want is primarily for the so-called “Lib Dems in the party” to be expelled. By this account, it was solely the fault of these 40 or so MPs that 14 years of Conservative government failed to result in the New Jerusalem of Danny Kruger’s fever dreams.
A couple of weeks ago, Henry Hill argued here that, following the leadership contest, “the imperative of unity took over and [the] inquisition never happened”. This seems to me to badly underestimate the value of unity in a party that just lost two thirds of its MPs. How can it be sensible for a party that had just been reduced to 121 MPs to proceed by expelling 40 more for being insufficiently ideologically pure?
If those MPs had indeed joined the Lib Dems, we would be treated to the none-too-joyous sight of Ed Davey facing Keir Starmer at PMQs each week. And doubtless another 20-30 MPs would then have joined Farage on the Reform benches. Unity was, and is, essential for the Conservative party to survive at all.
Henry further argued: “By not offering any answers, Badenoch made herself the candidate of everyone who didn’t have any, but knew that they didn’t like Jenrick’s.” I believe that to be an incorrect reading. “Not offering answers” weeks after an electoral shellacking was to demand instead that the party should take some time to think about policy.
The alternative was to immediately climb up on a soap-box and …
Confidence requires clarity.
Andrew Willshire is founder of the independent strategic analytics consultancy Diametrical Ltd.
Ever since the election, there has been a fashion among parts of the right-wing commentator class to tour news studios to demand that the Conservative party have some sort of “reckoning”, an “inquisition” into how and why it failed.
It’s usually adjacent to a more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger, I-didn’t-leave-the party-the-party-left-me bleating of a slightly unattractive nature, reminiscent of the spurned-husband-who-gave-the-best-years-of-his-life, and has just joined Fathers-for-Justic… sorry, I mean Reform.
Yes, anyone who has given their life to a political party will feel a strong attachment to it. No, that does not mean that they can see the party’s future more clearly than others. It’s pure solipsism; “I’m hurt, so I demand that the party act in a way to make me feel better. I’m sorry to break it to the Monties of the world, but there is no great appetite in the country for a period of public self-flagellation on the part of the Conservative party.
The public at large moved rapidly from thinking the Tories should be removed from office to ignoring them entirely once they had been. When they are ready to hear from them again, it will be a “What are you going to do now?” conversation, not “Can we first talk about last time?”
More particularly, it is apparent that the reckoning that they want is primarily for the so-called “Lib Dems in the party” to be expelled. By this account, it was solely the fault of these 40 or so MPs that 14 years of Conservative government failed to result in the New Jerusalem of Danny Kruger’s fever dreams.
A couple of weeks ago, Henry Hill argued here that, following the leadership contest, “the imperative of unity took over and [the] inquisition never happened”. This seems to me to badly underestimate the value of unity in a party that just lost two thirds of its MPs. How can it be sensible for a party that had just been reduced to 121 MPs to proceed by expelling 40 more for being insufficiently ideologically pure?
If those MPs had indeed joined the Lib Dems, we would be treated to the none-too-joyous sight of Ed Davey facing Keir Starmer at PMQs each week. And doubtless another 20-30 MPs would then have joined Farage on the Reform benches. Unity was, and is, essential for the Conservative party to survive at all.
Henry further argued: “By not offering any answers, Badenoch made herself the candidate of everyone who didn’t have any, but knew that they didn’t like Jenrick’s.” I believe that to be an incorrect reading. “Not offering answers” weeks after an electoral shellacking was to demand instead that the party should take some time to think about policy.
The alternative was to immediately climb up on a soap-box and …
Andrew Willshire: Reform is a Frankenstein’s monster of a party
Confidence requires clarity.
Andrew Willshire is founder of the independent strategic analytics consultancy Diametrical Ltd.
Ever since the election, there has been a fashion among parts of the right-wing commentator class to tour news studios to demand that the Conservative party have some sort of “reckoning”, an “inquisition” into how and why it failed.
It’s usually adjacent to a more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger, I-didn’t-leave-the party-the-party-left-me bleating of a slightly unattractive nature, reminiscent of the spurned-husband-who-gave-the-best-years-of-his-life, and has just joined Fathers-for-Justic… sorry, I mean Reform.
Yes, anyone who has given their life to a political party will feel a strong attachment to it. No, that does not mean that they can see the party’s future more clearly than others. It’s pure solipsism; “I’m hurt, so I demand that the party act in a way to make me feel better. I’m sorry to break it to the Monties of the world, but there is no great appetite in the country for a period of public self-flagellation on the part of the Conservative party.
The public at large moved rapidly from thinking the Tories should be removed from office to ignoring them entirely once they had been. When they are ready to hear from them again, it will be a “What are you going to do now?” conversation, not “Can we first talk about last time?”
More particularly, it is apparent that the reckoning that they want is primarily for the so-called “Lib Dems in the party” to be expelled. By this account, it was solely the fault of these 40 or so MPs that 14 years of Conservative government failed to result in the New Jerusalem of Danny Kruger’s fever dreams.
A couple of weeks ago, Henry Hill argued here that, following the leadership contest, “the imperative of unity took over and [the] inquisition never happened”. This seems to me to badly underestimate the value of unity in a party that just lost two thirds of its MPs. How can it be sensible for a party that had just been reduced to 121 MPs to proceed by expelling 40 more for being insufficiently ideologically pure?
If those MPs had indeed joined the Lib Dems, we would be treated to the none-too-joyous sight of Ed Davey facing Keir Starmer at PMQs each week. And doubtless another 20-30 MPs would then have joined Farage on the Reform benches. Unity was, and is, essential for the Conservative party to survive at all.
Henry further argued: “By not offering any answers, Badenoch made herself the candidate of everyone who didn’t have any, but knew that they didn’t like Jenrick’s.” I believe that to be an incorrect reading. “Not offering answers” weeks after an electoral shellacking was to demand instead that the party should take some time to think about policy.
The alternative was to immediately climb up on a soap-box and …
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