Whither the Right…..Right Wing in Retreat?
Posted on July 29th, 2009 in Conservatives, Think Tanks | 2,640 Comments »
The Party is for Turning!……The Lady wasn’t!
Whither the Right? Things are changing. The Right Wing, once the dominant force in the Conservative Party now finds itself shrinking in influence and with lessening access to the levers of power. The Party no longer a ‘Thatcherite Party’ but a centre right/left of right- centre Party. Margaret would not be happy!
What evidence of the decline of the Right?
- David Davis. The current standard bearer of the Right. Feisty. Challenging. Innovative thinker. But on the fringes looking in. Perceived as a thorn for Cameron.
- John Redwood. Despite his vast experience, he is left on the outside of the Shadow Cabinet. The man with actual Cabinet experience and the mettle which is needed in Government as witnessed in 1995 when he returned £100,000,000 of Wales’ block grant to the UK treasury unspent following efficiency savings and cost-cutting measures. Unheard of under Labour! Redwood has been the subject of a previous blog article: http://bit.ly/2B9oeG
- Douglas Carswell & Dan Hannan. The Right’s brightest thinkers as witnessed by ‘The Plan’ but again what to do with them in Office? Carswell remains on the Backbenches for the time being. Will they be inclusive figures in a Conservative Government or left to philosophise on the fringe and be ‘think tank’ revolutionaries? Both are radical thinkers and surely will not be silenced. Hannan especially espouses Right Wing ideology in the European Parliament. Cameron has not shown his hand on this pair as yet.
- Conservative Way Forward, the Thatcherite pressure group, standard bearers of the Right, opting safe with a new Chair in Don Porter, a loyalist, as a hack says: ‘He’s been careful to steer clear of factions and is regarded as a wise old owl figure, as well as liked by politicians and volunteers alike. He has a rare ability to pour oil on troubled waters’. CWF watering down its Right Wing credentials to have more influence with Cameron?
- The new breed of candidates. A new breed of candidates as witnessed by Chloe Smith. Non ideologue politicians. Smith, 27, was not even born when Thatcher came to power and would have no recollection of the 1980’s period of Conservative Government, hence no emotional attachment to Thatcherism. A Cameroon through and through. With Cameron opting for new candidates like former police chiefs, teachers, nurses, charity workers, the intake of new Right Wing MP’s will surely be severely curtailed. Indeed arguably, since the new breed of candidates will be generally non Party activists, ideology and principle will diminish in the next parliament. Conviction politics replaced by idealistic populist opportunism? The life blood of new right-leaning candidates is stiffled, cutting off new recruits to the ideological cause.
Hence, the Right is in decline, in retreat…….a minority.
A lot of chatter has been taking place this week about what should happen with David Davis post the next election. The Conservative Party is clearly moulded as a Cameron Party now. Does Davis fit? Should Cameron offer David a Senior job in the Cabinet, (if the Conservatives win)? This opens up a huge discussion about how broad a church the Conservative Party is and how free people are to suggest new policy and disagree with existing policy.
There is no doubting Davis is a talented man. A deep thinker. And highly ambitious. And there is nothing wrong with that. But here comes the problem. Suggesting new ideas and distancing oneself from existing policy gets portrayed by the media as disunity and positioned as a fight with the leader. Hence headlines create that feeling of the Tory civil war, which is a wound that we don’t want to re-open. But that is unfair on Davis. This is a democracy. We have a right to hear his views. So therefore are we to blame the media? But they need headlines, disunity stories sell newspapers….and their job is to sell papers. The viscous circle continues spiralling and is unlikely to be changed.
Davis knows what he is doing. Perhaps positioning himself if Cameron should falter……we know that the next Conservative Government would face huge decisions, many mightily unpopular. Hence Cameron’s popularity, (as anybody in that role would face), will take a hit early to mid the next Parliament. If it doesn’t, it means big decisions have not been made on spending cuts. This dip in popularity is a calculation for Davis….and one he may be gambling on? Maybe we will witness a new battle for the heart of the Party in years to come with Davis taking the persona of Thatcher and Cameron as Heath, (many of the policies today would not be out of place under a Heath Administration).
Of course, the next election looks to be heading towards a thumping Conservative Majority. ‘But events dear boy, events!’ can still change the political map. What if the economy starts to turn round and confidence starts returning? What if Labour ditch Brown and Alan Johnson enjoys a honeymoon period that sees a snap election called early next year and a Hung Parliament is the result? What if there is a big terrorist incident that calls for national unity? What if the UK goes to war and again people stick by their current Government at times of war? What if Cameron gets mowed down by a bus…this is a Cameron Party and another leader may not harness the same support. What if? What if? But what if? became reality?…….. Davis is there. Surely critical that the Conservatives did not reveal enough of their policy. Were overly opportunistic. Too populist but with no foundations or ideology to guide voters. But conversely, a thumping majority for Cameron will marginalise Davis and the Right still further. But Davis has to roll the dice……
The fighter on the outside….bruising for a battle or the last bastion of the Right fighting to make a mark?
So Davis aside, this brings to the fore, the question of what Cameron should do with two of his brightest stars on the Right of the Party. Two other outspoken policy prescriptors. Daniel Hannan and Douglas Carswell. Bright, switched on visionaries. But like Davis, what will Cameron do with them in Power? Are they an embarrassment or a national treasure?
Like many reading this blog, I find ‘The Plan’ an inspirational read. It is revolutionary and yet common sense. The premise is that the UK is a mess and that the next Conservative Government cannot tinker at the edges but must be engaging in wholesale reform. The Plan maps out over 12 months, a wholesale shift in power ‘from the state to the citizen, from Whitehall to elected councilors, from Brussels to Westminster’. They desire to restore power to the individual, and, where this is impractical, to the lowest feasible level of government.
For those who have not read the book yet….shame on you, but as a general overview, some of the ideas propounded by Carswell & Hannan include: Scrapping all MPs’ expenses except those relating to running an office and travel from the constituency; Selecting candidates through open primaries; Local and national referendums; “People’s Bills”, to be placed before Parliament if they attract a certain number of signatures; Placing the police under locally elected Sheriffs, who would also set local sentencing guidelines; Appointing heads of quangos, senior judges and ambassadors through open parliamentary hearings rather than prime ministerial patronage; Devolving to English counties and cities all the powers which were devolved to Edinburgh under the 1998 Scotland Act; Placing Social security, too, under local authorities; Making councils self-financing by scrapping VAT and replacing it with a Local Sales Tax; Allowing people to pay their contributions into personal healthcare accounts, with a mandatory insurance component; Letting parents opt out of their Local Education Authority, carrying to any school the financial entitlement that would have been spent on their child; Replacing EU membership with a Swiss-style bilateral free trade accord; Requiring all foreign treaties to be re-ratified annually by Parliament; Scrapping the Human Rights Act and guaranteeing parliamentary legislation against judicial activism; ‘Great Repeal Bill’ to annul unnecessary and burdensome laws; Repeal of the 1972 European Communities Act.
‘The Plan’, follows on from ‘Direct Democracy’, again by Hannan & Carswell. ‘Direct Democracy’ identified voters’ dissatisfaction with politicians and reluctance to vote as a rational response to the way in which Britain is governed, with the decisions most clearly affecting people’s lives more often taken by quangos and bodies of supposed expert opinion than by elected politicians.
Two bodies of work, deeply influential amongst the Right. But much too far reaching for a first term Conservative Government?
Now a number of ideas have been translated into Conservative Policy. But the radicalness of many means it would take a courageous Cameron to implement the drift and tone of this plan. Of course this will frustrate Hannan. Hannan’s weakness is being an MEP. He would be a far stronger voice at Westminster, with Carswell at his side.
Back to Cameron. Should he offer a Ministerial role to Carswell? Better to have him on the ‘inside pissing out than on the outside pissing in’ as the saying goes? Is he too radical for Government? Would the Civil Service neutralise Carswell’s visionary prowess? Questions no doubt Cameron is asking himself.
And what of Hannan? A cult figure in the Party following his rhetorical savage cutting down of Gordon Brown. Obviouslya deep thinker and a lot further to the right and a fully embracer of the free market than David Cameron. How will Cameron position Hannan after the next election? Will Hannan be as outspoken with the Conservatives in power as he is with them in Opposition?
If Cameron is serious about a Government of all the talents, then Hannan and Carswell should be at the centre of policy debate and at the heart of the Government. Rare and exceptional talent and visionaries should not be lost to the political wilderness but that will require bold leadership from Cameron.
What next for the Right. No doubting this is the weakest influence the Right have enjoyed in the Conservative Party for many years. The Right is cornered. Unfashionable under the flash sexy in-vogue fashion of David Cameron. Future intakes of MP’s, bright fresh things and non party activist MP’s with no ideological baggage will surely dim the Right further……..
The Right will respond…on the back foot….but how is the question…..
Thatcher: A Legend in the History of the Party, but whither the ideology and principles….
