Westminster Village v The Real World

One thing in particular has struck me over the last 15 hours or so - the vast gulf between the Westminster village bubble and the real world. While political pundits and politicians have spent the time searching for weird motives behind DD's decision, the rest of the country has given a different verdict. Let's ignore the reaction on political blogs for the moment (even though it has been far more positive than from the mainstream media commentators) and look at what's been said by BBC Viewers on the Have Your Say website, or the Telegraph website, or the Mail, or the Guardian, or the Independent. Reaction on most of those sites is running 80-20 in favour of David Davis. Why? Because they see someone standing up for what he believes - a refreshing change from what they see as the political norm.

This by election could mark a watershed in British politics. It could be the first by election in living memory run outside the wet blanket of party politics. I hope all the fundraising will be done on the internet, with a maximum campaign contribution of £100 - contrast that approach with Kelvin MacKenzie's campaign which will be funded by Rupert Murdoch. A by election campaign like this doesn't need to cost huge amounts of money.

From the reaction here and from the number of emails I have had asking how people (often not Conservatives) can contribute to David's campaign I know he won't have any difficulty in raising what is needed.

So perhaps the media pundits who are perplexed this morning might like to get out of Westminster for a change and talk to some real people. But I am not holding my breath.