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, 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 .
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??
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....
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?
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!.....
Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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?
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!
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"?
Easy for you to say. When one eventually defects, you'll say "told you so!". Name him or delete this thread immediately!
ReplyDeleteEdward 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!
Is David cameron about to defect? New Labour seems so much more his natural home ...
ReplyDeleteStop writing like a journalist and write like a blogger and spill the beans...
ReplyDeletePlease be Boris.
ReplyDeleteNot 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.
ReplyDeleteIs it all the acdcS in CCHQ ? or is it just Call me Dave ?
ReplyDeleteSources 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.
ReplyDeleteClarke? Bercow? They're welcome to either of them.
ReplyDeleteIt's Adam Rickitts, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteIain,
ReplyDeleteLook on the bright side - frees up a couple of safe seats for you to have a pop at!
Any truth that Quentin is really angling for the MEP list?
ReplyDeleteIain, If you want a safe seat, time to grow a moustache!
ReplyDeleteJohn 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.
ReplyDeleteBerk-ow it is.
ReplyDelete"Easy for you to say. When one eventually defects, you'll say "told you so!"
ReplyDeleteQuite.
Iain isn't quite the "Oracle" he makes himself out to be.
This rumour was all over Westminster yeterday.
ReplyDeleteSo 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.
I'm starting to wonder about the sanity of Conservative MP's.
ReplyDeleteChamberlain, 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.
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.
ReplyDeleteTony Blair to join the Labour party?
ReplyDeleteGood riddance to whoever it is, by definition.
ReplyDeleteBercow is a eurosceptic.
ReplyDeleteTo 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.
"..fall for nothing" - I meant to say.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Bercow can be described - in any sense - as a big catch.
Isn't this fun?
ReplyDeleteIain, 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.
ReplyDeleteFor 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 .
ReplyDeleteWhat's the betting on David Currie?
ReplyDelete...or even David Curry?
ReplyDeleteVery true, these twats can all bugger off and join the most vile and morally bankrupt government in living memory if they want.
ReplyDeleteIf 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
What is a Bercow? Could it be a middle eastern form of headdress??
ReplyDeleteWho the hell is David Curry?
ReplyDeleteWell at least it solves your facepaint chum David Burrowes's problem of what to ask the PM...
ReplyDeleteIain
ReplyDeleteYou 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.
Bercow can just go. Who cares?
ReplyDeleteCameron 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....
Please, please, please make it Cameron or Boris Johnson!!
ReplyDeleteJohnny 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?
ReplyDeletemark williams said...
ReplyDeleteIain, 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.
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 ).
ReplyDeleteWhat's the point in a blog if you wait for official PR?
ReplyDelete(doing a good job for GB's spin machine imo)
Did Blinky Bill actually say whether it was a Tory or a Lib Dem?
ReplyDeleteGuido says that Bercow's office (didn't specify which item of furniture) denied it.
ReplyDeleteDefections are far more commonly about ego than principle.
ReplyDelete(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?
He didn't actually say it was a defection.
ReplyDeleteIt could be a drug-related bombshell.
Iain, you can win by TELLING US who you think the MP who will defect is?
ReplyDeleteYou might even be doing the party a favour by spooking him before it happens and making him bottle out of following it through.
Remind me when those people were "senior", Mr Anon.
ReplyDeleteIt won't be Clarke. Please please be Timothy Kirkhope.
ReplyDeleteOh 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.
ReplyDeleteWould 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.
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.
ReplyDeleteAll together now: Spill! Spill! Spill! Spill! Spill!.....
Go on! Go on! You could give us ONE of their initials, couldn't you?
ReplyDeleteIt's quite scary just how many I would be glad to see go- Gove being my personal choice for ejection.
ReplyDeleteI 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 !
Is David cameron about to defect?
ReplyDeleteI hope so, along with that **** Boy George The Ox-bore
Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!Go on! Go on!
ReplyDeleteAre 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 ?
ReplyDeletePersonally I would think Teresa May would go to Labour to replace Patricia Hewitt....they are so alike
Is onone elese worried there are so many names being bandied about here as possible defectors?
ReplyDeleteGuido has gone nap on Bercow - But there again he went nap on Johnson for Lab Dep leader.
ReplyDeleteHow 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.
ReplyDeleteIf he was offered the job of Foreign Secretary he might be tempted.
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.
ReplyDeleteOne other thought, what about Charles Kennedy from Libs to a Lab cabinet post. He tried other Lib Dems.
I would've said portaloo but then he's not an MP anymore
ReplyDeleteMy missus says that Dave is a twat and that I should defect.
ReplyDeleteMr. 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?
I think it's
ReplyDelete...... Sir Alan B'Stad
Anon 1.17
ReplyDeleteor should I say -
Mrs Doyle....
Ross F,
ReplyDeleteRifkind? No way. You can forget a Milosevic-appeaser being given a post by a Labour Government.
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.
ReplyDeleteMs T Villiers?
ReplyDelete"How about Malcolm Rifkind, he's an Edinburgh University man just like Gordon brown & Ming Campbell"
ReplyDeleteCampbell was at Glasgow University.
I was told of another possible defection by a Tory MP this afternoon, but no name was disclosed.
ReplyDeleteHow can you get five names on a shortlist of one?
ReplyDeletePS 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.
ReplyDeleteSo if he crossed it would be hundreds of years of Notts history overturned.
Are the Labour benches nearer the HoP Humidor?
ConHome suggests Bercow will join the Cabinet as Overseas Development Secretary - but incredibly suggests he will seek to remain a Tory MP !
ReplyDeleteRifkind? No way. You can forget a Milosevic-appeaser being given a post by a Labour Government.
ReplyDeleteThimble, why not? I mean John Reid's connections to Radovan Karadic didn't harm his career.
s penketh.I agree!-That's the long and short of it.
ReplyDeleteThere'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?
ReplyDeleteChris Paul
ReplyDeleteBoth Clarke and Mercer’s predecessors were Labour?
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.
ReplyDeleteIn 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!
Fascinating stuff.
ReplyDeleteReading 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"?
Who's said it was going to be a Tory, BBC are hinting about Shirley Williams (ex labour/sdp)
ReplyDeleteBut then with the clunking fists in action, it's always a left:davies followed by a right Bercow.
ReplyDeleteIt's a knockout!
Hello dave, are all right...(LOL)!
hmmm, maybe it could be Sebastian Coe?
ReplyDelete