Wednesday, May 11, 2005

The A1 rule

Over at Politicalbetting.com they are musing on the fact that for the last twenty-six years whoever has been the Prime Minister has sat at Westminster for a seat on the A1 trunk road. Margaret Thatcher’s Finchley rests at the southern end of the main route to Edinburgh; John Major’s Huntingdon is on the A1 as it goes through Cambridgeshire and Tony Blair’s Sedgefield covers both sides of the highway in County Durham. Looks like good news for Alan Duncan, William Hague or Alan Milburn then...

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Strange to say,all of those you mention as PM's are,or were at the end of their time as party leader,regarded as an electoral liability.

Iain Dale said...

Who was it who said that all political careers end in failure?

Anonymous said...

Enoch Powell,Iain,but I'm sure you knew that!

Anonymous said...

I believe the full quote was "all political careers end in failure, except those cut off in their prime." People always miss out the second bit which is a shame because it is the more interesting part.

Iain Dale said...

Do I qualify for the second part?!

Anonymous said...

Yes. Small club - you, Enoch and JFK.

Anonymous said...

John Smith maybe or would he be a what if?. 11 years to the day since he died. Wonder what position labour would have been in now had he lived.

Anonymous said...

John Smith as Labour Leader would have led to a slimmer Labour victory over the Tories, say around 60-80, in 1997 followed by a similar size victory in 2001 (I don't think Hague could have done it) and then a Tory win this time - assuming the Tories chose all the same leaders.

Anonymous said...

BTW Interesting article on the Modernisers and their choice for the leadership in the Times. Concludes Willetts should be the logical pick.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,1071-1610037,00.html

Andrew