Thursday, October 30, 2003
What a difference twenty-four hours make. This time yesterday the Conservative Party had a leader that had been elected by the majority of party members across the country but not by MPs, which caused his downfall. Tonight the party appears to have a new leader in waiting as Michael Howard accepts the poisoned chalice, news which delights the MPs but which has the constituencies fuming.
If I understand it correctly, if no-one stands against Howard, then he becomes leader and that is that. If someone was to stand then it would go to a vote of MPs and party members. Quite what will happen if that were to occur is anyone's guess. As it was, a party member on Newsnight last night was livid about the betrayal of Iain Duncan Smith, the first leader by common consent of the party, and was complaining bitterly that as things stood the Conservative Party was far less democratic than the Labour party or the Lib Dems. What no-one pointed out to him was that in the case of the former, they stood up to and eventually defeated and drove out their rogue elements, the Tory party coddled and indulged their troublemakers.
If I understand it correctly, if no-one stands against Howard, then he becomes leader and that is that. If someone was to stand then it would go to a vote of MPs and party members. Quite what will happen if that were to occur is anyone's guess. As it was, a party member on Newsnight last night was livid about the betrayal of Iain Duncan Smith, the first leader by common consent of the party, and was complaining bitterly that as things stood the Conservative Party was far less democratic than the Labour party or the Lib Dems. What no-one pointed out to him was that in the case of the former, they stood up to and eventually defeated and drove out their rogue elements, the Tory party coddled and indulged their troublemakers.
