Take that, Nigel! Kemi Badenoch has just proved why Reform don't stand a chance
Kemi Badenoch and her Conservative colleagues have announced a swathe of bold policies that might at last start to win over wavering voters. Over the past year, Kemi's critics have complained that she's been too slow to set out big ideas - and let Nigel Farage make all the running. But she's making up for it, at the Tory party conference in Manchester.
We've seen pledges to take the UK out of the European Convention on Human Rights, stop the welfare bill rising even further and cut household energy bills, giving some much-needed relief to people still struggling with the cost of living. And the conference has barely begun. In the days to come, we can expect big announcements on cutting crime, making sure our courts really do punish criminals and more.
A plug for the Tories of course. Any ambitious political leader may announce a swathe of new policies, just as anyone may play language games.
Yet there is an obvious wider problem with political promises which aren't worth anything, the voting field becomes significantly skewed by too many useful idiots. We saw that when Jeremy Corbyn became Labour leader, but it is far from being a modern problem.
For example, it could be said with some justification that the current Labour government was put there by useful idiots. In which case, anyone paying attention must have at least some doubts about the value of elections and the point of voting.
Does voting for the least damaging option work? It is not obvious that it does, all established political parties chase the useful idiot vote with worthless slogans, clichés and promises. If it continues to work as it has in the past, what else are they going to do?
What is missing is that subtle recognition of a leader who intends to deliver, knows how to do it and is backed by enough supporters to make it work. If this isn't there, then the voting booth can't deliver it.
7 comments:
She's a game wee girl but I expect the game is beyond her, perhaps beyond anyone. Her inheritance from the Blairlite PMs is just too awful.
I refer to Cameron - May - Boris; it would be harsh to add Truss and Rishi to that sorry list.
But you never know. Her trouble is that Sir Jeer Dalek may not be her strongest opponent.
dearieme - yes she is game. I'm reminded of a comment by Liz Truss in an recent interview, where she spoke about support not being sufficient to carry on as PM. As Mrs Thatcher knew, wets will undermine worthwhile reform and Liz Truss seemed to be saying that Tory wets are too numerous to get anything done.
If she survives him, Kemi Badenoch does seem likely to face an opponent stronger than Sir Jeer Dalek but the Tory wets will still be there.
I don't know how many 'wavering voters' there are to win over, but there are probably many, many, more who have already decided that the Conservatives are not worth voting for.
Badenoch can announce all the policies she likes, but to be electable she would have to show how she would get them through parliament and then past the civil service. On past form the Parliamentary Conservative party will turn out to be stuffed with "wets" who instinctively cave in to the slightest push back from the official opposition, civil servants, journalists, etc.. Now, if she can dump those, she might get somewhere.
I suspect those people voted for her as leader in the hope that such swathes of policies would get them back in, and intend to vote her out again once they are.
DJ - I hope so, we need the consequences of political failure to be more drastic so that parties collapse if they make the kind of mess we've seen in recent decades.
Barbarus - I agree, spot on. She's probably there to say what Tory voters want to hear, but not to carry out those promises if they get enough seats to rebuild party fortunes.
How many "last" chances have the Tories been given, to do what the electorate wants and tells them to do? How many times have they not done it?
Personally I won't be giving them yet another chance.
Time to move on.
Peter - I won't be giving them yet another chance either. No point.
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