The two phrases that are hilariously linked to the Conservative Party which desperately need revision are, ‘our secret weapon is loyalty’ and that backbenchers are the ‘most sophisticated electorate in the world’. There is nothing new about the not so subtle, duplicitous clever cloggery which despatched poor Cleverly to the dustbin of political history. And I couldn’t resist a little gasp of incredulity when Tugenhat rather naively announced that if every back bencher who said they would vote for him did he would win. And poor Tom is a former intelligence officer.
So this horrible mixture of the the Hunger Games meets Traitors in the Big Brother House is limping towards the final coup de Grace, which Jenrick probably thinks is a Belgium lawn mower. This man really is a piece of work. He promises moderate Tories (privately of course)that he will move the party to the centre ground then denies it when it is leaked. He now ludicrously claims to be the heir to Farage, with the endorsement of dear old Jacob Rees Mogg. If the Conservative party has become so stupid and so degenerate to attempt to be pound shop Farages they will be rightly doomed to a Trussian hell. Whether you love him or loathe him, Farage is the most gifted and charismatic communicator of this century. Try and steal his clothes and you’ll look a damn fool. And fail.
If Jenrick believes that by cosying up to Reform he will win back Clacton Ashfield and the red wall, he is more delusional than I thought. These people are the forgotten ones. Patronised by the political classes and looked down upon by the Labour elite. The establishment ignore them and look on in horror at their medieval views about race and immigration. Nigel taps into this. He really does care. And the lost people of Jaywick believe him and in him. Now he may be as cynical and opportunistic as any other politician but he believes in what he says. Thatcher was respected because even if you disagreed with her you knew she believed in what she said.
We have become a nation of political shapeshifters. Boris Johnson believes in himself. But only himself. A self made man who worships his creator. Every deed, every thought, every contradictory utterance of this man who has single-handedly debauched the Tories and destroyed everything he touches, is for the glorification of himself. And we haven’t heard the last of him. He wants revenge on Badenoch and put in a shapeshifting fraud like Jenrick whom he knows would be ousted in a couple of years. And then that tumnescent moment when the phone rings, ‘Boris. We want you back. Save us’. It’s as mad as that. Expect some very dirty tricks. But if Jenrick is the answer it must have been a bloody stupid question.
There is only only person who has a fighting chance of restoring any sense of credibility to the Conservatives and it is Badenoch. She is not perfect. Nobody is. She will make mistakes as Thatcher did in opposition. But she is authentic. What she has to do in the television debate is be herself. She has a warm side but rarely shows it. She has a humorous side, but rarely shows it. And she has to understand that she is not a Margret Thatcher tribute act. The principles yes. The person no.
She has been gifted a unique set of circumstances. A shape shifting Prime Minister who believes in nothing. A riven party where the left can easily start pulling the strings while the trade unions already are. It’s a good time to be leader of the opposition. But she must remember that the Conservatives have never won an election after veering to the right. It would be an act of stupidity to try and steal Farage’s clothes. She must wear her own.
It’s hers to lose. I really hope that she wins.