When I saw that Conservative Home has a post today about sorting the Conservatives' Liberal Democrat problem, I was curious and a little worried.
Have the Tories finally noticed that they lost dozens of seats to us at the general election last year? Quite a few of them were sort where they used to weigh their vote rather than count it.
I needn't have worried.
The article is written by a former Tory activist and parliamentary candidate who has joined Reform, and it's about what his old party would have to do before his new one would even consider forming a pact with them.
Its author Dan Barker writes:
I have a question for all those Conservatives who are calling for a pact with Reform UK: If you are serious about ‘uniting the right’, then what may I ask are you going to do about your Liberal Democrat problem?
When I say Liberal Democrats, what I mean is the faction that call themselves ‘One Nation Tories’ (Thatcher’s ‘Wet Liberals’) who are aligned politically with the Liberal Democrats somewhere left of centre and possibly left even of the current Starmer Cabinet. They are arguably the single faction within the Conservatives most responsible for the party’s historic decline and ineptitude.
They are the dominant faction in the party and have chosen or heavily influenced the selection of many of the recent leaders and prime ministers. They proudly describe themselves as ‘radically liberal’ – whatever that means – it doesn’t sound conservative in the slightest.
Perhaps it is this very same ‘radical liberalism’ that is to blame for Net Zero, mass immigration on steroids, the bloated state, historically high taxes, the wokery and the war on freedom of speech that has prospered and flourished under the last 14 years of successive Conservative governments?
The Conservative Party's strength used to be that it had no time for the left's politics of purges, recognising that its ideology was a broad and rather nebulous one. Now its being driven by just that cast of mind.
Momentum's answer to any critic of Jeremy Corbyn was to tell them to "Fuck off and join the Tories". Now the self-appointed True Conservatives - who are often members of a different party - tell anyone who questions their views to "Fuck off and join the Liberal Democrats".
Personally, I would *love* to see loads of defections from Tory MPs and councillors and activists to the Liberal Democrats. Yes, it would cause a few problems integrating them, and I have no doubt that several self-appointed "radical" noses would be put out of joint for a short while, but if it strengthens our position amongst a significant section of society then it can only be in our best interests. So, here's hoping that Conservative Central Office starts a massive purge soon.
ReplyDeleteSo you want the Tories to have a purge, in the hope that it will push people who don't agree with you out of this party.
DeleteI'm not the same person as the "Anonymous" above Jonathan, but you are putting words into his/her mouth when you say s/he hopes some poeple are pushed out of the Lib Dems (assuming I have understood this correctly). What that person said was the some people's noses might be put out of joint for a short while.
DeleteFor what it's worth I'd rather the Lib Dems didn't worry too much about ideological purity for fear of being too like the left wing "student politics" you rightly identify as a current (and possibly permanent) "Conservative" characteristic.
If we are to succeed in Ed Davey's stated aim of becoming the official opposition, bringing the conservative liberals in can only help.
I don't think that there is any longer an appreciable number of 'decent Tories' left in the Conservative Party. They've been declining in number for decades, but Boris Johnson's premiership was probably the tipping point. I can't think of any MPs, and at local level they seem increasingly likely to be online-radicalised weirdos rather than conservative-minded active citizens. If current Conservatives join the Lib Dems because their thinking has changed then they'd be welcome, but otherwise I'd be very cautious.
ReplyDeleteYes, the Conservatives used to have councillors who weren't particularly political, but wanted to do good in the community. So they joined the party because that was how you got on the council. Maybe people like that join us now?
DeleteAnd I agree with your observation about the change in Conservative activists. https://liberalengland.blogspot.com/2024/10/volunteers-turn-out-to-help-plant-new.html
Not intended as "whataboutery", I assure you. Rather, I was just noting that the Lib Dems have similar people within their ranks whom I regard as mildly heroic. As a matter of interest, I wonder how "solemn and binding" these expulsions are? Is the Party Heirarchy just making a point, and everyone kisses and makes up a few months later? Or is it terminal?
ReplyDelete(Sorry, that went on the wrong thread - should have been about the Labour expulsions.)
DeleteThank you, Anonymous 3. You'd hope people would quietly be allowed back after a while, but I assume there was a snitch in Suffolk too, so that may not happen.
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