Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Nick Clegg (Conservative)

Guido Three Line Whip revealed today that Nick Clegg was once a member of Cambridge University Conservative Association. Once a Tory, always a... And in the true spirit of Compassionate Conservatism, the current chairman of CUCA, Mike Morley has today invited the LibDem leader to become a life member. Here's his letter...
Dear Mr. Clegg,

I was very interested to read that you were a member of CUCA during your time at Cambridge. As the incoming Chairman, I thought I would write and invite you formally to re-join the association.

As a member you would benefit from reduced-price tickets to our social events and would once again be part of Cambridge's most active political society. CUCA as an association - like the Conservative Party nationally
- has gone from strength to strength in recent years, and we now have many more members than the Labour Club or Lib Dem group.

Our Easter Term starts on 20th April, and already boasts a great line-up of speakers – including Boris’s father, Stanley Johnson and Lord Blackwell, the Chairman of the Centre for Policy Studies. There is also our annual May Week Garden Party on Sunday 15th June, with the termly Chairman’s Dinner the Friday before.

Membership of CUCA normally costs £4 for a year, or £8 for life – but given your previous membership of the association, we would be happy to let you ‘upgrade’ to life membership for just £4.

Let me know if you are interested in becoming part of CUCA once again. I enclose a membership renewal form for your convenience.

Best wishes,

Mike Morley
(Trinity College)
Chairman, Cambridge University Conservative Association

What a jolly jape.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

How much of a story is this really?

I suspect many of us joined a lot of societies in college, tempted by the 'cheese and wine' / totty / summer ball as diverse as hiking / biking/ hunting / fishing / shooting etc.

Then did not have an awful lot to do with them after paying our pound to help them bump up their 'capitation' from the Student Union / taxation..

Of course, if he'd fibbed about it then this might be quite another matter. But I don't think he has ever pretended to be from the SDP Lefty end of the Liberal Democrats so I don't think it is really going to do him any more damage than his GQ thing.

In fact I think Gordon Brown would kill for some of his 'teflon' coat as it was certainly not handed on from Tony Blair..

asquith said...

Usual nonsense, best ignored. Why would anyone care what he did 20 years ago? As far as I'm concerned he's doing a pretty damn solid job of holding clunking fist to account and exposing Camoron as a fake liberal leading an unreconstructed 80s party. That counts for more than something he may (or, very well, may not) have done before a lot of voters were even born.

And I think you'll find a lot of centrist liberals will make the same journey when they look at the baying pack of wolves standing behind Camoron and consider what they would do to this country given a chance.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps he recognised that with his limited abilities, he wasn't ever going to get anywhere near the top in the Conservatives - with so much talent that was better than him. So he opted to settle for so much less - becoming big fish in the small LibDm pond....

Anonymous said...

To be fair, Guido only ran a story that had been already published on several other blogs. He didn't exactly "reveal" anything.

Anonymous said...

It doesn't surprise me. You and Clegg have always been a bit too close for comfort. This has confused me a lot. Either you were a closet Liberal or he was a closet homosexual. Clearly I was mistaken and the nightmare scenario applies, though one condition does not necessarily preclude the other.

I might have made this up but weren't you one in your youth? (You know what I am talking about) And can we not be forgiven the odd bit of tainted love?

Paddy Briggs said...

"Once a Tory always a Tory"...

Let's match that disturbing thought with something more uplifting...

"I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance."

Unsworth said...

So, the story's true - but there are mitigations such as Clegg's youth, inexperience, casual stupidity, etc?

Sort of similar to today, then.

Anonymous said...

asquith said...
"Usual nonsense, best ignored...As far as I'm concerned he's doing a pretty damn solid job"

asquith has spoken so that's that.

Anonymous said...

I wonder how many of those "lot less than 30" were from his Conservative period?

Old BE said...

The LibDem commenters seem to have lost their sense of humour. They may claim to be the "national" party but they certainly aren't the "human" party!

asquith said...

9:19am, you'd have done better by taking on my observation that the events of 1985-6 were "before a lot of voters were even born". I'd ha' enjoyed responding to that :)