Conservatives

  • Reform UK smell blood

    Just as Nigel Farage MP (Clacton/Reform UK) prepares to return to Parliament, Kemi Badenoch MP (North West Essex/Conservatives) – his nearest rival for Number 10 – has been cleared of Council Tax evasion by London-based authorities.

    Farage is looking to grow a support base for Reform UK to build momentum and win future general elections. If it’s to take on the Conservatives and Labour in Parliament and win big, he has to see off the competition.

    “The fact Badenoch hasn’t been caught out shows her integrity, but to some extent it shows we don’t really know her anyway.

    The Conservative party is lost, broken, and divided, and we’re ready for more of this. Reform UK is on the rise.”

    Nigel Farage MP/Reform UK.

    Today, Badenoch is safe from public execution by faithfulness in her financial affairs. Farage knows it, but feels jaded. It’s far from his own sense of accountability. He believes the episode is over, but his bid is only in the beginning stages.

    His own finances may be under review by authorities in Parliament, but he’s confident about the future. His own need for security is beyond doubt. The transactions have been transparent and the funding is credible. His next task is kicking Labour out of power.

  • European conservatives need to see the future

    The more negative the news stakes become for conservatives, the more prone these same people have been to strike out against news cycles in Europe to propose alternatives. This is interview-style politics and not the politics of a heritage or even of learning.

    In Europe, it takes time to build a movement. It needs people (or members) that are accountable for what they say and believe. Also, participation and funding is key to its real progress in the halls of power.

    However, too many are trying to find a way through bulletins and impending bad news statistics for people without providing guidance as to their real situation. The lack of this attention to detail and also ambition to do it is a telling feature of mainstream European conservatism.

    The failing, broken policy of one crowd has to be replaced by a foundation of reason and ideas built up by another. The departure from this scene in politics is already leaving huge gaps in the future. The less provision there is for actual participation, the worse it will be for everyone.

  • Badenoch has an election to fight

    The Conservatives feel like they’ve got a noble fight in politics.

    It isn’t a retiring party. It doesn’t sit on history like it’s a treasure chest. It doesn’t hold to values that died off with the past, in that it seeks to prosper the present too.

    This drives it to understand Parliament and to improve the way legislation is made.

    The present condition of its benches needs looking at, then. It can’t sustain a decent opposition on its present numbers.

    This is the case if Reform UK win a significant number of MPs in a future election.

    Labour have endured a beating, but have also proved they’ve got a way of coming back. If it can manage itself properly, it will exert influence at the ballot box.

    This is the plan, anyhow.

    What the Conservative party does next is crucial, because there’s a lot of potential in Number 10 to bring change.

    It needs to target constituencies that can be productive and hold potential already, rather than just the likelihood of a win.

    Reform UK now has a foothold in areas that can help it along, to prepare for power and prove itself to be responsible.

    While the Tories already have a reputation like this, its leadership now has to prove it can invest more resources into doing it.

  • A coalition is whistling on the wind

    It’s been hinted a coalition may be on the cards if a general election were held soon. It could be a Conservative-Liberal Democrat repeat by one estimation, or a Conservative-Reform tie up in others.

    The former isn’t favourable to the ambitious Tory ranks, where fervour is high for a renewed policy push. The Reformers may not be a good option either, knowing what comes in toe.

    Unlikely as it may sound to these theorists, Starmer isn’t done yet – and Badenoch isn’t giving up. She hasn’t lost her nerve for a plan to keep it together, stay moving, and campaign for it outright.

  • Prime Minister’s Questions

  • Westminster Week: The blues

    Tuesday

    The Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill is stirring more controversy in Parliament than some might have imagined. The concerns for the status of island residents, overall costs, and a loss of strategic advantage has riled those on the Conservative benches. The handover to Labour has perpetuated the deterioration of feelings over the matter.

    Wednesday

    The conservative inside Kemi Badenoch MP (North West Essex/Conservatives) is coming out. She laid into the Prime Minister for corruption, sleaze, and strikes in London.

  • MP’s safety (National News Report)

  • Westminster Week: Conservatives surge ahead

    Monday

    Monday is a rough start to a week in most cases, but Nigel Farage MP (Clacton/Reform UK) got off to a running start, as well as Richard Tice MP (Boston and Skegness/Reform UK). They both appeared at a branded and fronted press conference in London to launch a broadside against Greater Manchester Police. Their effort was to bring up the beating of a police officer or two in an airport there, and the leaking of subsequent video footage.

    Later on, they both appeared in a debate in the House of Commons over the Chagos Islands, sparing with David Lammy MP (Tottenham/Labour) Foreign Secretary, over the rights and wrongs of it all (the UK recently announced a handover of sovereignty back to the Islands). They obviously feel passionately about it.

    In the evening, they graced us with a launch of a relatively new feature in their repertoire – a party political broadcast. It’s novel for them because it doesn’t quite make sense circa a year ago. I get the sense they can’t believe, having been at it for so long, it’s now their opportunity to reach out on television cold turkey.

    Tuesday

    Tom Tugendhat MP (Tonbridge/Conservatives) was kicked out of the Tory leadership race. It’s not a bad end to a long-running, populous campaign that started with six. It’s now down to three.

    The remaining candidates all put up a good fight, but James Cleverly MP’s campaign (Braintree/Conservatives) has surged ahead and may be the likely one to win. However, we have to watch this space.

    Wednesday

    Perhaps politics can be a bag of surprises, and considering James Cleverly MP (Braintree/Conservatives) was kicked out of the Tory leadership contest today, maybe we need to be reminded it sometimes happens overnight. It’s not to say his supporters are wrong but it’s a question of what Conservatives are looking for right now.

    Thursday

    President Zelenskyy visited London today, not to pay his respects to our political system, but to meet with the Prime Minister to allegedly discuss his “Victory Plan” in the war against Russia. As it happens, London is a busy day for a visit like this, so it’s interesting to see important-looking people in the usual hive of activity.

  • Profile: Lord Ashcroft

    Lord Ashcroft is a long-running supporter of the Conservative Party in the UK, having been a significant donor and opinion former. He has his own website listing his books and self-written articles.

    He also owns the Conservative Home and Politics Home websites, both popular with the party faithful, and Westminster regulars. He also moonlights as a pollster for conservative values.

  • Profile: Boris Johnson

    Boris Johnson is a larger than life figure in UK politics. He’s occupied many political offices and has worked “behind the scenes” as it were in the journalism industry for a wide array of conservative titles.

    He began his employment at The Times in 1987 before moving to The Daily Telegraph as its reporter in Brussels to cover what was the European Commission at the time. He’s since written for and edited The Spectator, a leading conservative title in the UK.

    His television work made him a star in the UK and brought his characteristic wit and style of commentary to a wider audience. His appearances on the BBC show Have I Got News For You jettisoned a relatively new Johnson into the political stratosphere.

    In 2001 he found his first political success after winning the election for MP of Henley, a constituency in Oxfordshire. He’s since been elected Mayor of London twice, and MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip. He was appointed Foreign Secretary under Theresa May in 2016 and became Prime Minister in 2019.

    He is a writer at heart and his publications extend beyond his own life and times to works of a historical nature. In particular he’s written about London, Rome, and Brussels throughout his works.

    The key moments in his life centre on controversies. He’s the author of his own due to multiple failed marriages. He was also at the centre of the storm of the Brexit referendum in 2016, having campaigned for the Leave vote. Lastly, his Premiership was beset by the Covid pandemic and brought him intense criticism and scrutiny of his style of leadership.