"And we need to change, and we will change, the way we behave. I'm fed up with the Punch and Judy politics of Westminster, the name calling, backbiting, point scoring, finger pointing." David Cameron's Conservative victory speech, December 2005. It's over a decade since Tony Blair left Downing Street and forewent the weekly ordeal of … Continue reading Punch and Judy: In Defence of Prime Minister’s Questions
Conservative Party
Sex, Lies and Hypocrisy: The Last Time Sleaze Brought Down The Tories
At the beginning of the 1990s, single mothers became the 'enemy of the people' in the eyes of hard-right Conservative MPs. But when the party looked to moralise on the issue, they discovered that single mothers were not an alien from an unruly underclass - but within everyone's families, especially the ones of high-ranking Tory Cabinet Ministers. … Continue reading Sex, Lies and Hypocrisy: The Last Time Sleaze Brought Down The Tories
Election? What Election? How Brown’s dithering ended the New Labour era
The party insiders urged him to call it. David Cameron challenged him to it. Gordon Brown tried to play politics with it for a short term gain. Eventually the hesitancy destroyed a carefully crafted reputation, and Labour have looked like the opposition ever since. So why didn’t Brown call that General Election of 2007? As Gordon … Continue reading Election? What Election? How Brown’s dithering ended the New Labour era
“Precisely the sort of candidate who ought to be able to stand, and lose harmlessly’ – Is Corbyn the modern day Thatcher?
Margaret Thatcher was the most successful Prime Minister of the 20th century. In the beginning though her party didn't want her. She only stood because nobody else was brave enough and in 1975 she became leader by accident. Events would take her all the way to Number 10. Is Jeremy Corbyn on the same path? This … Continue reading “Precisely the sort of candidate who ought to be able to stand, and lose harmlessly’ – Is Corbyn the modern day Thatcher?
Tides of History 