Is David Cameron the ‘John McCain’ of the British Conservative Party?
It is clear that the BNP, with its strength in the north of the country, is taking votes from Labor. Surely it is a mistake for the Conservative Paty to completely ignore the voters’ strong concerns about uncontrolled immigration.
The UKIP, on the other hand, takes votes from the Conservative Party, as it appeals to Thatcherites and libertarians who view the EU with suspicion and distaste.
Therefore, Cameron and the Conservative Party, by ignoring voters’ dismay at the strength of the European Union and excessive immigration, have helped UKIP and possibly also the BNP to gain many potential voters and perhaps seats in the House of Commons this time around.
So desperate is the Conservative Party that some are attempting to make a specious link between UKIP and the BNP. “UKIP: the acceptable face of the BNP” is once again rearing its ugly head on some Tory websites. The former Conservatives that make up UKIP are none too pleased.
Lord Tebbit, former cabinet colleague and friend of Lady Thatcher, expressed his worry about the Cameron style of leadership in one of the country’s newspapers:
Lord Tebbit said that without a “major change of tactics” Mr Cameron might struggle to win the general election.
He added: “The polls were giving the Tories a point or two over 40% until quite recently. The odd rogue polls were giving a bit more, but the steady rating was 40% plus.
“Now, with the exception of the rogues, the rating is 40% or less. The 40% floor has become a ceiling.”
Fraser Nelson, a well respected columnist for the News of the World described Cameron’s New Year’s speech in the following terms:
His speech yesterday was vapid nonsense. Words like “change” and “hope,” repeated over and over again. All that worked for Obama’s America. But Britain wants some beef. And Cam’s speech had as much beef as a vegan sandwich.
It is clear from the lack of traction in the polls, despite all the Labor government’s problems, that Cameron does not understand the mood of the people he is trying to attract. It will be a disaster on an epic scale if Gordon Brown and Labor retain power through some coalition deal.
There are rumors that Gordon Brown may “go to the country” and call the election in the next few weeks to take advantage of the Conservative Party’s less than ideal position in the polls and the fading likelihood of its winning a majority. April seems to be the month that Brown is hoping to test the electorate and see if he can hang on to Number 10. The election must take place by June 6 at the latest.
This is fascinating stuff for students of the “mother of all parliaments,” but very worrisome for the people who may see themselves living under the chaos of a hung parliament and weak government after the years of Labor missteps and mismanagement.
In the latest poll, the lead is down to 2%, which is a statistical tie. It remains to be seen whether Cameron’s spring forum speech will have helped his cause.
David Cameron, as leader of the “loyal opposition,” should be judging the mood of the country and speaking for the needs of the people. If he were doing so, he and the Conservatives would be a shoo-in.
I just don’t see the attraction with Cameron. I would have voted for David Davis given the chance. The British class system is alive and well. There are some good people in Cameron’s team,(Gove and Willetts)but too many Eton and Westminster boys. I know its a joke but Britain needs a Tea Party movement for the productive lower middle class and aspirational working class to protect us from the molochs and the elites. That would lead people from the pathetic UKIP and BNP morons. Good luck to Dan Hannan!
Hopefully this is not the U.S. conservative fate in 2012. We need some fresh faces and some real meat eaters when it comes to conservative principles. We do not need another establishment Repulican who thinks it is his turn.
Every bit this American sees of Cameron fails to impress me.
Despite McCain’s many faults, he does convey a sense of personal force. Cameron doesn’t, IMO.
(I’m indicating my age here, but) John Lindsay comes to mind.
Man’s a moron. Many more will now vote for the UKIP or National Front – that is now where the right is, the Conservatives are pro-abortion and pro-Europe-dictatorship – there is nothing “conservative” about them. In any case, Labour has so thoroughly destroyed the social fabric through African and Asian immigration that it may be too late for the UK – it is difficult to get statistics but so many white Britons have left for France, Australia and elsewhere it has really changed the demographics.
Firstly may I point out that the BNP is a socialist party- at least to judge by the economic policy proposed on its website. It does indeed oppose immigration but otherwise it is hard left. It appears from its proposed policies identical with the labour party of the 1920s. Its appeal is to poorly skilled workers who feel threatened economically by, amongst other things, unskilled immigrants- as such it is a threat to Labour not the Conservatives or Liberals as it seeks to eat into their traditional vote- that’s why all its successes to date have come in traditional Labour areas.
Secondly UKIP have too few recognised candidates to pose a threat to the Conservatives in a general election- yet. Plus the majority of those inclined to UKIP would dread a Labour victory. UKIP may well take the speakers seat, but that would be no loss to the conservatives. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see them getting an increasing vote in local elections though- they should be a worry to the Conservatives next time round, unless of course the Conservatives move their way in the meantime.
A parallel was drawn with 1979. It should be remembered that Mr. Callaghan (Mrs. Thatchers predecessor) had chosen to deal with the 1978 crisis honestly- whereas Mr. Brown has merely borrowed and printed money to keep the bubble going. Hence in 1979 everyman and his dog knew that the country was in trouble. Reality hasn’t set in yet this time round- that’ll only happen when the printing and borrowing cease- which if Mr. Brown has his way will be after the election.
Another problem faced by any Conservative leader is the dominance of the BBC. The BBC has a reputation for impartiality, and is generally trusted by those not interested in politics. Its reputation is sadly based on long past performance- they broke out the champagne when Labour were elected in 1997, so we know which party they favour. They have a strongly pro EU stance, and are very much in favour of all things green. Any political leader who was strongly anti EU, or failed to follow the green agenda would get a very bad press from them.
To add to the problems of any Conservative Leader is the process of electoral drift- the tendency of people to move out of Labour controlled areas over time. This results in Labour held constituencies being smaller than others- Mr Cameron needs a small majority to break even.
Mr Cameron has pursued a policy called “detoxifying the brand” which boils down to sucking up to the BBC. It could be argued that this was necessary to even give the conservatives a chance. Of course this produces doubts amongst those of us who share my opinion of the BBC. He could have done with climategate coming either six months earlier or, even better for him six months later- as it is he has to chose between pleasing the public on this issue at the expense of BBC tolerance on all issues, or continuing the appeasement policy.
All is far from lost however. Firstly barring one rogue poll the Consevatives are still polling 6% ahead of Labour, which according to which annalist you believe gives the Conservatives a slim majority. Secondly at every election I can remember the Conservatives have done better than the opinion polls predicted. Thirdly there’s a few months to go till June- and I do expect Brown to wait till the decision’s made for him- and I can’t help but think that the non political public will by then have noticed rising inflation and expensive holidays, even if nothing else goes wromg between now and then.
To sum up my previous post- given the political landscape he has to work in I think Mr. Cameron has done a good job in making the Conservatives electable. I can think of no other strategy more likely to succeed, Anyone appealing to the politically aware conservative voter would, given the BBC bias and the general lack of political conscientiousness lose a voter to labour for every conservative abstainer it attracted- thats one more vote against and no more in favour.
How closely to conservative principles he would govern is unknowable- if he let me know he would give Browns dogs something to attack. But he does appear to understand that you win elections by getting more votes than the opposition- not necessarily by being right. And if elected we can be assured he will take steps to level the playing field- thats a no brainer and would give conservatives a much fairer shake for the future.
The News of the World (shakes head sadly) is correct, Britain (the real Britain, the bit of it that still remains) wants some beef!
But how can we vote for man who wants us to hug hoodies, or adopt Muslim values ?
Andrew, and all the hand wringers, keep this in mind: Daniel Hannan,
not David Cameron is the legislator with the greatest amount of credibility. So, given that Hannan has allies in the British Conservative Party, they have to be taken into consideration as to what Cameron has to accomplish, much less what Cameron wants to accomplish.
Cameron may become Prime Minister, just like Heath did 40 odd years ago, breaking the Tory’s long exile, but Hannan will be the major figure among
others
From Pat, “Firstly may I point out that the BNP is a socialist party- at least to judge by the economic policy proposed on its website. It does indeed oppose immigration but otherwise it is hard left.”
You are right but just tell me for whom the average British citizen should vote for to remain British ?????
On day 1 Cameron appeared to be a Blair clone and nothing since has changed that. He is not a Conservative but has hijacked the party and moved it towards Labour.
Personally, I’m looking forward to a Hung parliament, I can already see their twitching feet, Oh! You mean that type of hung. I’m looking forward to that almost as much. A hung parliament does nothing and that is preferable to any actions a majority will take as both will tax more, not give us the choices we want,a EU referendum for one and when there is a hung parliament happens Cameron will get the boot. Then we might see a real Conservative take over and they will then win by a landslide.
At the moment a Cameron win is going to be only slightly less damaging than one by Gordo. Neither of while is going to deal with the EU the biggest single issue in the UK. The actual power behind the puppets at the moment.
Hitler has his say:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BimSZ6ozDj4
This is all pre-pre-election posturing and speculation. Yes, UKIP did very well in the European elections on a very low turnout and the BNP got a MEP, again on a low turnout. I suspect though, when it comes down to it, the electorate will ensure that anyone but Labour is the result. It is in the marginals that the interesting calculus is to be found. It matters not what the polling in the core safe Labour and Conservative seats have to say. It does matter that the marginals have consistently had the Conservatives ahead by at least a further 2% over the national figures and Labour a further 2% behind.
A hung Parliament is a luxury Britain cannot afford but a Labour Government is a disaster we couldn’t survive.
I am sure Cameron is none-too-pleased with Dan Hannan. He held a very successful tea party fringe at the Spring Forum. Hannan is certainly better known internationally than Cameron. It will be interesting to see what happens if Cameron blows it. I do not share Mr Tyke’s optimism alas.
Latest polling says Tories are only ahead by 2 in 60 key marginals (ie seats that could go either way).
Reading what Mr Cameron has said, he comes across as a politically correct, left leaning waffler without principles or backbone. He doesn’t want to stand up for Britain and he is wet behind the ears. John McCain has proven to be very brave and obviously loves his country. Politically he may be conflicted but he is an adult and he tries hard to serve his country.
Are there any conservatives in the Tory party or are they all Democratic Socialists as Mr Cameron appears to be?
Even though it is 10 days old, this blog entry by Daniel Hannan sheds some light on the situation: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danielhannan/100026985/david-cameron-is-still-on-course-to-win/
Given the comments I see over on the Telegraph business writers, starting with AEP, I have to admit that Daniel has a point.
I got to admit, how polling done is probably the same universally,
but talk about diversity as to what the final numbers are. Polling within close races is something I am not that familiar with in Western Canada.
Pat is absolutely right. The BNP is strong in normally Labour-voting constituencies and is really just the racist wing of the Labour Party. In short, it is a bunch of leftist yahoos and not “to the right” of anyone.
Of course, this doesn’t change the fact that Cameron is a bit of squish on most things, particularly Anthropomorphic Global Warming, upon which he is utterly blinkered.
If you’re looking for a sensible alternative to Britain’s CINO (Conservative in Name Only) Party, UKIP’s your man, every time.
The mood of the British people is deply anti – politics, it’s very difficult for any politician to underrstand that.
Cameron should get the message though from the way peoples’ faces break into insane grins whever the phrase “hung Parliament” is mentioned.
Ian… “a well hung parliament”
Cameron is a horrible choice, and honestly, between him and Griffin, any sane conservative Englishman would have to side with Griffin when looking at the issues on a checklist.
The problem with British politics is people like Pat, Jack Jolis and Mr Tyke who continue the crappy sound bites about ‘racists’, ‘unskilled’, ‘low turnouts’ etc. etc.
They don’t seem to realise that the people who didn’t vote in the ‘low turnout elections’, didn’t vote because they hate the three main parties and they’re too scared to vote for who they want to (BNP according to the highly skilled workforce I work with).
They harp on about left and right when nobody cares, what people care about is their country.
Pat talks about BNP voters being ‘unskilled’, inferring I suppose that their votes shouldn’t be counted. In which case Pat, my vote, I’d wager, would be worth four of yours and it would be BNP every time.
The conservatives will win the election but if ‘Dave’ had grown a pair of balls and become more of a man, like Geert Wilders is then they would have written off Labour to the history books.
But that would have been the end of the LibLabCon trick that people fall for, time and time again. Politicians, at least LibLabCon politicans, don’t run the country when in power, they’re just muppets and puppets for the globalisation scam behind them.
I like Hannan, like most American conservatives, but if he is to have any serious political future, he should have been running for a seat the UK Parliament, not staying in Strasbourg in that useless, bureaucratic circle jerk known as the European Parliament. Which is especially useless if you are a conservative.
I suspect at this point that Hannan is angling for a job with Fox News.
To add to the problems of any Conservative Leader is the process of electoral drift- the tendency of people to move out of Labour controlled areas over time. This results in Labour held constituencies being smaller than others- Mr Cameron needs a small majority to break even.
I am afraid that Baroness Thatcher agrees with this assessment of Cameron. Not terribly good for his prospects this week methinks.