My evening with Cambridge University Conservatives was certainly not without incident. I was speaking at their termly black tie dinner. Apparently the attendance was the highest for several years. I last spoke there in 2004 when not a single woman was present. This evening about half the attendees were female, and there were quite a few ethnic minorities present (some in their own country's dress) too.
The first person I saw when I walked into the room was the Adam Smith Institute's Madsen Pirie. I explained to the CUCA Vice Chairman Mark Padley that I had known Madsen since 1987. Mark kindly told me he wasn't even born then...
I have to say I have never been to a Tory Party event when grace was said in Arabic. The evening got gradually more raucous and then it was my turn to perform. I duly appointed a Russian Mancunian called Igor as my cheerleader. The jokes seemed to go down OK, but I have to admit I didn't use a single one of the ones left on the blog during the course of the day (!). In fact I got interrupted so much that I ditched half my speech as it would have gone on for far too long. If I'm honest, I think I went on for a bit too long as it was.
I don't do too many speaking engagements at universities but I rather enjoyed this one. If they can harness the undoubted energy they have for the good of the party and campaign as hard as they party, then maybe the Conservatives will start to make a comeback in Cambridge. Fifteen years ago we had an MP there. Today we don't have a single councillor. An appalling decline.
27 comments:
My University CF numbered about 5 or 6!
For a long time it has been deeply uncool to be a student Tory, but happily things seem to be turning back around!
What jokes did you tell?
Well thats the last time I bother dripping comedy gold into your lap Dale
Given that the bright young Tories are still having 'black tie' diners, is it any wonder that the good folk of Cambridge are putting their Xs elsewhere?
Although I'm sure that many Tories have had a black tie diner or three in their time, I meant to type dinners in my previous comment...
Hughes is completely wrong. Dressing up is a Cambridge thing, not a Tory one. Next week many of them are going to May Balls which require WHITE tie. My son is there (not a member of CUCA because he thinks they are wxxxers although votes Tory in Cambridge local elections), and he still goes to lots of black tie stuff. One DJ is a lot cheaper than lots of party gear.
But, Iain, did you question CUCA about their recent amazing internal elections mess-up? Or their membership levels compared with 1,100 in 1978? Wimp, I bet you didn't!
Are you are conservative? You sound like New Labour! What a boring PC story.
When undergraduates were entered on the electoral register in their university town, and a university was sited in most towns ( Hatfield has one), there was a long term, but now righting itself, lean to the left.
Hatfield is represented by a Conservative. Cambridge University voters, without a university seat since 1948, may well swing the vote to Robert Rhodes James's party, given the chance.
"and there were quite a few ethnic minorities present (some in their own country's dress) too."
Oh you Tories...
"Where are you from?"
"Peckham."
"And what is your country's national dress?"
I am sorry to agree with the anonymous who said this was a boring PC post. Were we supposed to feel a thrill of pride because - to use yet one more lefty American term - "ethnic minorities" were present? Who c-a-a-a-r-e-s? All the big universities worldwide have a lot of foreigners. So what?
Why is it relevant that half the audience was women? Why? Why? Why? Apart from anything else, do you know how patronising that sounds? Oh, the little girls are getting really brave and grown up! How cute! Yuck!
Next time you report on a talk, please be assured that we are reading it for news about the talk, how it went over, and the questions that were asked at the end, not to hear the make-up of the audience. Yawn.
Why have you let the left hijack you?
Ah Londoner - so you don't think there's even the slightest hint of the University being regarded as a bastion of Torydom then? I hope your boy has had the good sense to purchase a dinner suite with expandable waistband like the one that mine has? Very useful as the decades pass and even sometimes as the evening passes if the tucker's up to scratch.
One of the more endearing features of our soon to be PM is that he couldn't be bothered to put on "national dress" when he went to chat to the chaps at the Mansion House each year. I wonder when the Tories will realise that this isn't 1907?
Thank you for your advice on how I should write my blog! I have not been hijacked by the left. I quite reasonably pointed out that CUCA has changed in the three years since I was last there. There were more women and more ethnic minorities. I regard that as a good thing and see no reason why I should be inhibited from pointing it out. It reflects how the party is changing generally - and for the better. If you think we should stay as a narrow right wing sect then that's up to you. I do not.
And they didn't do questions, so I couldn't report that.
"and there were quite a few ethnic minorities present"
They were presumably at the wrong event then or just there to try and lift something. I trust the police were called? Or were you just being patronizing?
One of the more endearing features of our soon to be PM is that he couldn't be bothered to put on "national dress" when he went to chat to the chaps at the Mansion House each year.
And there was me thinking it was because he was an arrogant, ignorant cnut!
"There were more women and more ethnic minorities. I regard that as a good thing and see no reason why I should be inhibited from pointing it out. It reflects how the party is changing generally - and for the better."
This is STRAIGHT out of David Camerons lexicon. Blatant sucking up Iain.
Slurp...slurp...slurp..
It demonstrates nothing of the kind. Neither would the fact that two were gingers, four were under 5" short, half a dozen had pet goldfish, a dozen were chavs and only 3 were from Eton..
This sort of boneheaded analysis is pathetic and patronising.
In 2004, you were nobody. You had no blog. Nobody knew who you were.
It's hardly suprising the turnout and it's range is higher, now that you're a media celebrity with a wide following.
"and there were quite a few ethnic minorities present (some in their own country's dress) too."
What, Burberry Cap, Reebok tracksuit and Nike trainers?
It's unquestionably your blog to write as you choose, Iain. But most of your readers find Cameroonism rather distastefui and NuLabourish and something they want to get shot of. Not something they would actually vote for.
Reporting the make-up of the audience smacks depressingly of quotas - long discredited as a bad idea in the US, therefore soon to be adopted in Britain, I am sure.
See, Iain? Everyone here has reacted negatively to your carefully limning a sketch of the audience.
Even I don't care. I just pretend to care in public. Surely you can understand that?
A nice personal comment posted in here by you Iain.
The Tories are moving away from being 'narrow minded and right wing'.
I spoke with Tony the other night and he informed me that upon his first victory, the Tories held thier hands up and needed a breather.
The second victory: This shouldn't be happening.
The third victory: 'We changed the Tories into our way of thinking'.
Thanks for the confirmation,Iain:-)
As for Madsen, I'm pleased to inform you of my higher IQ than him (his claim to fame). Long time, no see.
For a laugh, Iain, ask him to blog up his version of tying a bow tie.
Gary
Are you ever going to post anything vaguly intelligent Gary? You've been posting for a long time and we're still waiting.
Malcolm - I thought it was hysterical. It gave me the first laugh of the morning. I startled a cat by laughing out loud.
The reason we do not have a single Conservative councillor in Cambridge is entirely the fault of the Conservative Association there. They are backward looking, riven by infighting and are generally incompetent. CCHQ should send in a 'hit squad' to sort them out! Lots of Tories in Cambridge who now vote Lib Dem because they want Labour out and never hear from us.
Anonymous
June 15, 2007 4:55 PM
That is quite possibly the most ridiculous comment I have seen in a long time. The University Association is beneficial to the local party by campaigning with them for elections. I doubt most Cambridge residients even know, or care about silly squabbles amongst a bunch of students.
The reason why the Lib Dems have such a stranglehold is because they are very good at campaigning on the ground and at getting their vote out on the day. This coupled with the fact that some of the people who have been put up to stand for the Conservatives in some wards, or for the Westminster Seat have been defeatist and not worked as hard as maybe they should have.
CUCA has a history of being full of arriviste oddballs. They overcompensate for their shortcomings by creating some kind of 'Boysie' vision of Brideshead Regurgitated.
Spartacus said...
Anonymous
June 15, 2007 4:55 PM
That is quite possibly the most ridiculous comment I have seen in a long time. The University Association is beneficial to the local party by campaigning with them for elections. I doubt most Cambridge residients even know, or care about silly squabbles amongst a bunch of students.
I wasn't attacking CUCA, Spartacus, but the Conservative Assn. The two are completely different! CUCA does a lot of good work for the Party and I salute them for it.
Anon 6.48pm - its difficult to recognise your description of the local Association - the problem has mostly been that the Cambridge demographic (like that of Oxford) didn't much like the Hague/Howard brand of Conservatism. Also, the Lib Dems in particular have been very well organised campaign wise, and have no scruples at all about how they win votes. We are polling better in Cambridge under Cameron, 24% vote share across the 14 wards - several wards are now within striking distance and we should be back in numbers next year. CUCA have provided huge amounts of campaign support to the local Association over the years and superhuman efforts from some CUCA people in the past were instrumental in keeping our presence on the Council through times when it looked like every ward was trivially losing...
"In 2004, you were nobody. You had no blog. Nobody knew who you were."
Is it ironic that these words were posted by "Anonymous"?
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