What's Happening With UK Conservative Politics?

It seems like British Conservatives have been wandering in desert longer than the Biblical Jews...what's going on there? Has Labour stolen all your issues?

Will there be another Churchill or Thatcher in our lifetimes?

[edit on 9/28/2006 by djohnsto77]

The tories were badly battered by the rise of New Labour, especially as it came in on the back of what had to have been the worst Tory Government since Stanley bloody Baldwin. Major's government in the '92-97 Parliament was a long, slow, horrible train wreck, as its majority steadily dwindled, the right-wing anti-europeans went mad and the public realised in the wake of the ERM fiasco that the tories could no longer be trusted on the economy.
Add on the rise of Teflon Tony Blair with his drive to the middle ground, and it's no wonder that the tories got slaughtered in 1997.
Their next leader was William Hague, who had little hair and slightly mad eyes. He also tried to drive his party to the middle ground, but the reaction from the grass roots was so bad that he had to appease them. Grass root tories - that is long-term party members who help to select candidates for parliament - have long been a joke. Their average age is about 109, they support capital punishment, don't like ethnic minorities and think that Maggie was wonderful. I should know, I've met some of them.
Hague therefore veered straight right and promptly got his butt handed to him by Blair in 2001.
The tories reaction? The grass roots voted in Iain Duncan Smith. This dipstick is my local MP. He's a moron. He used to be in the British Army, but he left when he failed to get into Staff College, something that is quite hard to do unless you're a moron. Again, I've met the man. He has a charisma of a small arthritic slug.
Duncan Smith (or IDS as he became known to the media, although I prefer to call him SID) started on the right wing and stayed there. There was no effort to move to the centre. He sounded as if he had a permanent frog in his throat. He was bereft of ideas.
The tories flatlined at the polls for 3 years as a result, until the MPs finally rose up, knifed him in the back and anointed Michael Howard as the new leader.
Howard was known best known in Britain from his time as the most reactionary Home Secretary that we've had for years. Apparently he's a nice chap, but his general demeanour was that of a peckish vampire eyeing up your jugular.
The change of leader and the Iraq war meant that the tories did not too badly in the 2005 election. Sadly, SID is still my local MP. He also enraged my entire family by having his flunkies efefctively move my father on when he was collecting for the RNLI (the lifeboat people who such a great job around our coasts) outside the local train station at the same time that SID was handing out 'vote for me' stickers. Tosser.
The current tory leader is David 'Smiler' Cameron. He has the intellectual depth of a puddle, but is telegenic and young. Iraq is still weighing on the mind of the public for obvious reasons, so for the first time in years the tories are above Labour in the polls.
The chances of a new Thatcher emerging from the current crop of MPs is close to zero.

By the way, don't forget that Churchill was a Liberal once.
And his wife always voted Liberal, something she never told old Winnie.

Originally posted by djohnsto77
It seems like British Conservatives have been wandering in desert longer than the Biblical Jews...what's going on there? Has Labour stolen all your issues?

Will there be another Churchill or Thatcher in our lifetimes?

[edit on 9/28/2006 by djohnsto77]

Lately it would seem that the Cons have Labour on the back foot. They have taken advantage of the leadership dispute and a string of cock-ups ranging from immigration, education, the health service and lately, the prisons.

I'm not a natural conservative (i'd describe myself as a right of centre liberal), but they are offering serious oposition at the moment and should be commended for highlighting the failures of Labour.

More money than ever has been poured into the NHS and Education, but it is being soaked up my managers and beaurocrats, rather than doctors and nurses. Ensuring all the nanny state targets and interference is being adhered to.

Labour seems to be all about "tax and spend", rather then actually giving value for money.

We have health authorities who are running out of money, dispite being given huge sums of cash, hospitals are closing, schools are closing, all despite record investment. Where is all this cash going? Then there's all the interference in the daily lives of people, the lies and scandals. It's all begining to be a bit much. I think we'll see a Conservative revival in the coming few years.

They are ahead in the polls by several points and it would seem, if they keep up the momentum, that they might be able to win the next election.

On a conspiracy note.... Cameron did attend the Bilderburg meetings this year, as did Blair before he "won" the election.... Put money on it, I would....

Originally posted by stumason
On a conspiracy note.... Cameron did attend the Bilderburg meetings this year, as did Blair before he "won" the election.... Put money on it, I would....

Yeah, i remember reading about that.

Will there be another Churchill or Thatcher in our lifetimes?

no,
UK politics is no longer a battle between the Left and Right (even though some still think it is). To win an election in the UK, you have to win the Centre ground. Tories will never back to the hardline right 'cause they will never get voted in.

Thats why Tory policy has changed.