Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Is Another Tory MP About to Jump Ship?

Speaking at a Fabian reception last night Ed Balls was crowing about the Quentin Davies reception. He ended his remarks with the chilling words...
There's more to come - as I know.

Another Labour source said he had been advised to...

Watch the TV on Tuesday, but Thursday will be better.
So who is the MP that is being talked about? Well, I have a shortlist of one.

78 comments:

Anonymous said...

Easy for you to say. When one eventually defects, you'll say "told you so!". Name him or delete this thread immediately!

Edward Heath's corpse?

Seriously, does this face look bovvered? Get them out, all pinkos the lot of them. Let's have a party that is ideologically pure!

Anonymous said...

Is David cameron about to defect? New Labour seems so much more his natural home ...

Anonymous said...

Stop writing like a journalist and write like a blogger and spill the beans...

Anonymous said...

Please be Boris.

Christopher Glamorgan said...

Not another desperate MP ready to perform a swan song before retiring. Of course, all this has happened before and the cynical among us may think that it's a last-ditch attempt to gain a government position before retiring to the upper chamber, something that they wouldn't have achieved under the Conservatives.

Anonymous said...

Is it all the acdcS in CCHQ ? or is it just Call me Dave ?

Anonymous said...

Sources at Westminster report that Iain Dale, sick of the way he's been treated by the current Conservative leadership, is ready to defect, and is tipped for the safe Labour seat of Sedgefield.

Anonymous said...

Clarke? Bercow? They're welcome to either of them.

Anonymous said...

It's Adam Rickitts, isn't it?

Anonymous said...

Iain,

Look on the bright side - frees up a couple of safe seats for you to have a pop at!

Anonymous said...

Any truth that Quentin is really angling for the MEP list?

Anonymous said...

Iain, If you want a safe seat, time to grow a moustache!

Anonymous said...

John Bercow. He used to be rather good M.P untill he married and his good lady wife (labour member) turned him. but then again he wouldn't be the first man to abandon his principles for love.

Anonymous said...

Berk-ow it is.

Anonymous said...

"Easy for you to say. When one eventually defects, you'll say "told you so!"

Quite.

Iain isn't quite the "Oracle" he makes himself out to be.

Anonymous said...

This rumour was all over Westminster yeterday.

So i think Iain does know full well who it is. Interesting that Ed Balls was so indiscreet. They must be certain it is going to happen and must know that the Tories know all about it.

The Military Wing Of The BBC said...

I'm starting to wonder about the sanity of Conservative MP's.

Chamberlain, I mean Cameroon, has lost me. But the very very last thing I'm contemplating is joining Broown.

What kind of intellectual processes are these 2 going through? They don't like Cameroon because he's abandoning Tory values to join the MSN driven "big tent".

So what do these imbeciles do? They throw in their lot with a totally untested Brooown who may be well be useless under pressure and turn the "big tent" into a loony bin.

If John Major "wobbled" in a broom cupboard at No 10, I hate to think what Broown will do in the Cellar or Cobra in a crisis.

These two have just been onto LastMinute.com and bought themeselves cheap tickets for the Titanic.

Anonymous said...

Actually - is there anything to say though that it's a Tory. It would make just as much sense for it to be a Lib Dem.

Old BE said...

Tony Blair to join the Labour party?

Little Black Sambo said...

Good riddance to whoever it is, by definition.

Anonymous said...

Bercow is a eurosceptic.

To lose both a eurosceptic AND a europhile would be a disaster.

It has oft been said that if you stand for nothing, you will fall for something.

Cameron needs to declare what he stands for immediately and rally his troops, or we can kiss goodbye to any hopes of winning the next election.

Anonymous said...

"..fall for nothing" - I meant to say.

Anonymous said...

I wonder if Ken Clarke is going to join Brown's cabinet, perhaps as Foreign Secretary (the speculation about who that will be has gone very quiet). It really was very odd for him to have contradicted Cameron so absolutely blatantly on the floor of the House on Monday on the referendum - similar behaviour to Davies on the war enquiry - when he is supposed to be half in the tent with his democracy taskforce praised by Cameron.

I don't think Bercow can be described - in any sense - as a big catch.

Anonymous said...

Isn't this fun?

Anonymous said...

Iain, to be frank, it is better to name who you suspect rather than let the socialist PR machine run its course. Either the nearly turncoat is named before he (or she) has signed away their soul, or the deed has already happened and you would pre-empt their PR splash. There is probably not much that can or will be done by CCHQ at this stage so little to lose by going public.

Anonymous said...

For crying out loud Iain who cares who jumps where,one second later makes it the past,sort out our Dave ,we don't want an heir to Blair ,our Dave should be shouting from the rooftops about the EU and how the people of Sheffield and elsewhere should be defended from flooding,but I can't hear our Dave from where I live .

Anonymous said...

What's the betting on David Currie?

Anonymous said...

...or even David Curry?

Anonymous said...

Very true, these twats can all bugger off and join the most vile and morally bankrupt government in living memory if they want.

If Millibellend is so convinced about global warming why hasnt he been beefing up flood defences?

If gordo wants to listen to the people why doesnt he give us a referendum on the disgrace that is EU.

Cameron should start by attacking the government and standing up for the public.

and while we are on the subject what about torture flights? Even goldsmith now admits they took place, why isnt Cameron asking the new lovable brown what he knew about them and what he is going tod o about them??

come DC, show some fight

Colin D said...

What is a Bercow? Could it be a middle eastern form of headdress??

Anonymous said...

Who the hell is David Curry?

Hughes Views said...

Well at least it solves your facepaint chum David Burrowes's problem of what to ask the PM...

Johnny Norfolk said...

Iain

You are sounding more and more establishment always taking the party line ( well far more than 2 years ago.)

If we dont face the facts that Cameron is not the right leader we will go nowhere.

So come on Iain be a little more grass roots and not the party line.

Anonymous said...

Bercow can just go. Who cares?
Cameron needs to get angry. Time to get medieval on Browns ass in PMQs. Show some spirit and anger and knock some lumps off the grinning scotsman. Theres a lot to knock. The MSM is just waiting to have ago at him, theres a lot of slights to repay....

Anonymous said...

Please, please, please make it Cameron or Boris Johnson!!

Iain Dale said...

Johnny Norfolk, so you reckon the party leadership will welcome this post?! I have been very critical of the leadership on this blog. The trouble is, people only ever seem to notice the articles where I agree with what they are doing. I can;t win, really, can I?

Anonymous said...

mark williams said...
Iain, to be frank, it is better to name who you suspect

He has no idea, but I betcha he'll be posting that when the ship jumping happens it was who he suspected all along.

Man in a Shed said...

Never mind the MPs - how can we get them to take that bunch of EU loving MEPs ? ( Its not like Labour doesn't need a few more ).

Madasafish said...

What's the point in a blog if you wait for official PR?

(doing a good job for GB's spin machine imo)

Sen. C.R.O'Blene said...

Did Blinky Bill actually say whether it was a Tory or a Lib Dem?

Anonymous said...

Guido says that Bercow's office (didn't specify which item of furniture) denied it.

Anonymous said...

Defections are far more commonly about ego than principle.

(The whips are very well aware of this, btw, when compiling lists of "possibles".)

In guessing names, the starting point should be whose inflated opinion of him or herself has not been rewarded.

That's not quite Bercow's situation. Additionally, he's no bigger a name than Quentin Who.

Assuming Balls isn't giving it large - quite a leap - the fanfare suggests someone a little more senior. Clarke? Gummer? Yeo?

Anonymous said...

He didn't actually say it was a defection.
It could be a drug-related bombshell.

Anonymous said...

Iain, you can win by TELLING US who you think the MP who will defect is?

You might even be doing the party a favour by spooking him before it happens and making him bottle out of following it through.

stalin's gran said...

Remind me when those people were "senior", Mr Anon.

Praguetory said...

It won't be Clarke. Please please be Timothy Kirkhope.

Anonymous said...

Oh please, one more. Tories can't keep on saying "Oh so-and-so is useless, you're welcome to him". At this rate, there will be no Tory MPs left.

Would you care to pre-empt things by telling us which Tory MPs are useless right now? Then, when they do defect, it'll save you time.

Mark Wallace said...

Iain, it's only right that if you know you should break this story wide open. First, why wait for Gordon to spin it how he wants? Second, you're a blogger- you've caused trouble to excellent effect in the past, so do it again now! Third, whoever this traitorous oaf is needs their applecart upsetting - don't let it be stage managed on their timetable.

All together now: Spill! Spill! Spill! Spill! Spill!.....

Anonymous said...

Go on! Go on! You could give us ONE of their initials, couldn't you?

Anonymous said...

It's quite scary just how many I would be glad to see go- Gove being my personal choice for ejection.

I will follow one of the herds in agreeing that Bercow is most likely.

He's changed more than the party has in the last few years and if he does go it will be more personal than political.

How about Blair resigns Sedgefield and Portillo contests the seat for Labour !

Sir-C4' said...

Is David cameron about to defect?

I hope so, along with that **** Boy George The Ox-bore

Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

Are there any Tory MPs one could name ? I find it hard to think of any who might want to stay in such an anonymous party - at least by crossing the floor one gets to hear names like Alan Duncan, and to see his role as a little terrier biting at the heels of bigger men.....but what he actually does as MP for Ruritania I don't know....perhaps he oils Benazir like he did for Marc Rich ?

Personally I would think Teresa May would go to Labour to replace Patricia Hewitt....they are so alike

Anonymous said...

Is onone elese worried there are so many names being bandied about here as possible defectors?

Anonymous said...

Guido has gone nap on Bercow - But there again he went nap on Johnson for Lab Dep leader.

Ross said...

How about Malcolm Rifkind, he's an Edinburgh University man just like Gordon brown & Ming Campbell. Also he was supposedly quite annoyed not to be offered the role of shadow Foreign Secretary by David Cameron.

If he was offered the job of Foreign Secretary he might be tempted.

Anonymous said...

uhxkueSomeone got in first on my thought about it being Michael Portillo. With him being off the radar for Cameron that could explain the confidence with which Ed Balls drops this hint and Portillo endorsing Brown would still be quite a powerful image.

One other thought, what about Charles Kennedy from Libs to a Lab cabinet post. He tried other Lib Dems.

Anonymous said...

I would've said portaloo but then he's not an MP anymore

Anonymous said...

My missus says that Dave is a twat and that I should defect.
Mr. Brown says he'd love to have me. Give it a bit of time, and he promises to put me in the cabinet. Seriously! No laughing at the back. My missus would love that. The car and all..

Also, that Damien McBride has penned a not so nice letter for me to give Dave. Damien tells me that Thursday is the day, unless I fancy a trip to the dentist to replace my missing teeth..."See what we did to Quentin Davis's fingers when he had doubts..."

So what do you readers think I should do?

I'm very scared of Damien. Is he related to that Damien kid off the films? I looked for the tell-tale mark but couldn't see it but he was punching me in the face at the time for being a Tory

Should I stay or should I go?

Anonymous said...

I think it's

...... Sir Alan B'Stad

Anonymous said...

Anon 1.17

or should I say -

Mrs Doyle....

The Thimble said...

Ross F,

Rifkind? No way. You can forget a Milosevic-appeaser being given a post by a Labour Government.

Anonymous said...

Iain, if you knew who it was, you would say and thus ruin their stage managed defection. This is all just daft rumour mongering and speculation.

Anonymous said...

Ms T Villiers?

Anonymous said...

"How about Malcolm Rifkind, he's an Edinburgh University man just like Gordon brown & Ming Campbell"

Campbell was at Glasgow University.

Anonymous said...

I was told of another possible defection by a Tory MP this afternoon, but no name was disclosed.

Chris Paul said...

How can you get five names on a shortlist of one?

Chris Paul said...

PS Funnily enough I had a chatter with Mr Clarke a couple of weekends back. He mentioned that there are some villages transferring from his constituency to that of Patrick Mercer and that those villages had always been represented by a Tory MP. Whatever constituency they were in.

So if he crossed it would be hundreds of years of Notts history overturned.

Are the Labour benches nearer the HoP Humidor?

Anonymous said...

ConHome suggests Bercow will join the Cabinet as Overseas Development Secretary - but incredibly suggests he will seek to remain a Tory MP !

Ross said...

Rifkind? No way. You can forget a Milosevic-appeaser being given a post by a Labour Government.

Thimble, why not? I mean John Reid's connections to Radovan Karadic didn't harm his career.

Anonymous said...

s penketh.I agree!-That's the long and short of it.

David Lindsay said...

There's talk of Chris Patten as Foreign Secretary, which the Beeb would trumpet as a massive coup. In which case, who would be the next trick? Michael Heseltine? Geoffrey Howe? Does it even have to be someone who is officially still alive?

Anonymous said...

Chris Paul

Both Clarke and Mercer’s predecessors were Labour?

Anonymous said...

The honourable member for Haltemprice & Howden has a more than adequate resume to attract the New Labour honchos - northern background, broken home, machiavellian hunger for power etc.

In fact he is so much Gordon Brown's alter ego he is the ideal candidate to provide recognition of his big tent.

This depends on how long he is content to continuing to languish under Cameroonian centrism, before the prospect of being put out to pasture starts to appeal.

DD would make a mighty splash...but to promote his own star at the expense of his co-conspirators?

I suspect a toe-dipping exercise to further expose the regional divides of this opposition...there are moves afoot!

Anonymous said...

Fascinating stuff.

Reading through the previous comments, I realise just how much vitriol there is among the Tory faithful.

The better part of a score of names here are prejudged as twats, traitors or otherwise "not one of us".

As a non-Tory, now or ever, I find several of the persons named worthy and admirable. Their detractors seek an ideological purity that would reduce the Tory party to a taxi-load. And such tricoteurs, greasing the tumbrils and sharpening the guillotine, wonder why the denounced defect.

And this represents a credible and cohesive "opposition"?

Anonymous said...

Who's said it was going to be a Tory, BBC are hinting about Shirley Williams (ex labour/sdp)

Anonymous said...

But then with the clunking fists in action, it's always a left:davies followed by a right Bercow.

It's a knockout!

Hello dave, are all right...(LOL)!

Keir Gravil said...

hmmm, maybe it could be Sebastian Coe?