Tory candidate farce
Tuesday, November 07, 2006

The Welsh Conservative party is trying desperately to have Peter Davies removed from their list of approved candidates for the May 2007 Assembly elections.

Why?

Because he wants it abolished.

There was a time, of course, when every Tory candidate stood on an anti-Assembly platform. One of the reasons the Tories weren't so successful in 1999 was that they were trying to get elected to an institution for which they had no appetite. As recent as the 2005 general election their policy was to offer Welsh people the chance to scrap it.

But when David Cameron took control the Tories didn't just go green, they went red too. The new Tories embrace devolution. They even claim to be the party of the Welsh language.

So it wouldn't look good to field a candidate who fundamentally opposes devolution, even if he's the father of an existing assembly member.

These days a Tory candidate should preferably be young, blonde and blogging. Speaking of which, the word from the tory blogs on this is... nothing. All blogs, no balls.

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posted by Blamerbell @ 8:12 pm,

4 Comments:

At 10:13 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Is he the Peter Hitchens? I have a feeling I read on Iain Dale's blog that he isn't. But may be wrong.

 
At 10:43 pm, Blogger Blamerbell said...

I've no idea. But I'm still accurate in reporting that Peter Hitchens said it, whether it's a pseudonym or not:)

If it is an impersonator it's a bloody good one. Sounded just like Hitchens on Question Time last week.

 
At 12:38 pm, Blogger Rhys Wynne said...

Not that I agree with the man, but it seems very harsh. A lot of nationalists were critical of the Tories for offering a referendum on the Assembly's future (be it further powers or scrapping), but you can't blame them for giving people choice. Although I'm a nationalist, I'd be quite nervous if such a referndum was held. There's plenty of Labour voters who'd still like it scrapped (being staunch unionists).

It's a bit of a 'lose/lose' situation for the Tories here, they're either going to be criticised for banning free speech amongst members by removing him, or being accused of being anti-devolution by letting him stand.

Having said that I'm getting fed up with the "only X% voted for it" line. Yes we know, but less voted aginst!

 
At 2:23 pm, Blogger Blamerbell said...

We've already had a referendum on the Assembly. The Tories have finally accepted the result of this and are trying to move on.

They're playing all the positive cards: trust us with the NHS, trust us with the Welsh language... but that won't work if they are putting forward dinosaur candidates who want to roll back the lock.

 

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