political commentator * author * publisher * bookseller * radio presenter * blogger * Conservative candidate * former lobbyist * Jack Russell owner * West Ham United fanatic * Email iain AT iaindale DOT com
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Before James accuses me of negative campaigning I'd just like to point out this is a pledge card produced by the Labour Party. And good on them!
I will weigh the possibility of occasionally feeling slightly flattered to receive a name-check on your blog against the detrimental effects to the local community and country as a whole of your election and decide on that basis!
Oh, I was going to vote for Iain on the basis he will shake up the country and save us from another god-awful labour term (or far worse, any influence at all for the LibDems).
Go on, Anonymous - try posting under your actual name and you may join Norman Lamb, Cllr Wright and myself in the pantheon of names mentioned in the main blog thing! On second thoughts, you may not want to join a club of which we three are members.
And what's all this about shaking the country up? In the good old days, that was the last thing Conservatives wanted to do. Poor Stanley Baldwin will be spinning in his grave even now, mumbling "the attainment of an ideal is the beginning of disillusion."
I tend not to hark back to the good old days, preferring instead to imagine the brighter days ahead, with Michael Howard as PM and me humbling serving the country from those hallowed green benches. Can't say Stanley Baldwin is a great hero of mine...
Poor old Balders. Sorry to see Tory splits extending beyond the grave!
I am a bit of a Stan fan on the quiet. He wasn't much of a statesman (or at all) but he was probably the most talented politician of the twentieth century in pure electoral politics terms. His masterful identification of and appeal to the new voting groups created by social change and franchise expansion is all the more stunning when you think that most people would have seen the expanded franchise as bad news for the Tories. He has a lot to teach the modern Conservative party and I suspect he would have a few choice words for the "core votes strategy" brigade.
"the detrimental effects to the local community and country as a whole of your election"...it's good to see that comradeship remains as strong as ever within the ranks of the Conservative party. hasta la victoria siempre...
Very true, Iain, and I have a crack squad of lawyers on hand if Anonymous repeats his/her accusation! Maybe I shouldn't have conceded having a soft spot for one of your leaders in the 1920s and 30s - perhaps I would have been better off tracing a direct line of animosity to all Tories back to Edmund Burke and beyond, thus maintaining ideological purity.
I am too thrilled to have been promoted from the "comments" section to the main body of your blog to even think about doing such a thing!
ReplyDeleteFlattery usually has that effect. Are you going to vote for me now?! My breath is bated...
ReplyDeleteI will weigh the possibility of occasionally feeling slightly flattered to receive a name-check on your blog against the detrimental effects to the local community and country as a whole of your election and decide on that basis!
ReplyDeleteNo contest then. I am in turn hugely flattered you think my election will have a countrywide effect!
ReplyDeleteOh, I was going to vote for Iain on the basis he will shake up the country and save us from another god-awful labour term (or far worse, any influence at all for the LibDems).
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, you're a very wise person and I promise I will shake them up good and proper!
ReplyDeleteGo on, Anonymous - try posting under your actual name and you may join Norman Lamb, Cllr Wright and myself in the pantheon of names mentioned in the main blog thing! On second thoughts, you may not want to join a club of which we three are members.
ReplyDeleteAnd what's all this about shaking the country up? In the good old days, that was the last thing Conservatives wanted to do. Poor Stanley Baldwin will be spinning in his grave even now, mumbling "the attainment of an ideal is the beginning of disillusion."
I tend not to hark back to the good old days, preferring instead to imagine the brighter days ahead, with Michael Howard as PM and me humbling serving the country from those hallowed green benches. Can't say Stanley Baldwin is a great hero of mine...
ReplyDeleteI live in North Norfolk and am voting Iain Dale because I want the government to do LESS, not MORE.
ReplyDeletePoor old Balders. Sorry to see Tory splits extending beyond the grave!
ReplyDeleteI am a bit of a Stan fan on the quiet. He wasn't much of a statesman (or at all) but he was probably the most talented politician of the twentieth century in pure electoral politics terms. His masterful identification of and appeal to the new voting groups created by social change and franchise expansion is all the more stunning when you think that most people would have seen the expanded franchise as bad news for the Tories. He has a lot to teach the modern Conservative party and I suspect he would have a few choice words for the "core votes strategy" brigade.
"the detrimental effects to the local community and country as a whole of your election"...it's good to see that comradeship remains as strong as ever within the ranks of the Conservative party. hasta la victoria siempre...
ReplyDeleteI don't think you will find James is a member of the Conservative Party...
ReplyDeleteVery true, Iain, and I have a crack squad of lawyers on hand if Anonymous repeats his/her accusation! Maybe I shouldn't have conceded having a soft spot for one of your leaders in the 1920s and 30s - perhaps I would have been better off tracing a direct line of animosity to all Tories back to Edmund Burke and beyond, thus maintaining ideological purity.
ReplyDelete