Earlier today Jonathan Isaby posted a list of 46 MPs who currently sit in the top 200 Tory target seats. The thing they have in common is that they are all voluntarily standing down from Parliament at the next election. Today Stephen Hesford (whose opponent is the excellent Esther McVey) announced his departure. On Friday it was government minister Ian Pearson. This week, according to a tweet from Tim Montgomerie, it will be Geoff Hoon's turn. Obviously some of the 46 have entirely understandable reasons for standing down - age, infirmity etc. And yet even the most loyal Labour support knows that all this points to one thing.
They all expect Labour to lose.
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But then again, the last figure I read was that it costs someone well over £40k personally to run for an election, so if you don't think you'll win, it seems quite sensible to save your cash and let someone else spend it in building their own political career by losing a no-hoper this time round when there's no shame in losing if you fight for the red team.
Labour is almost certain to lose but will Dave win?
If he does win will he be any more competent that the present lot?
I am not optimistic
Off course MPs are going to stand down as the election nears. There is no great love for the Tories out there particularly given how many of them were involved in the expenses scandal.
Some may be going because they see defeat ahead. I wonder how many are going because, even if they won, they could not face working under Gordon Brown.
@mikexx
Much as I suspect that Tories were, proportionately, as involved in fiddling expenses as Labour, it's hardly going to impact the Tories as a whole more than Labour, given that
a) there are more Labour MPs caught fiddling (as there are more Labour MPs),
and b) it happened under a Labour government, under a Labour-appointed Labour loyalist Speaker whose instinctive reaction was to defend his colleagues irrespective of their actual merits in the time-honoured closed-shop trades-unionist way.
That many? And with so much time left before "the date"!
Effectively a vote on the party's chances, I wonder how Lord M is taking this?
Or if he really cares now?
I just think generally the Tories are counting their chickens. I want them to win but it seems to be David Cameron and thats it. The shadow cabinet is unknown and boring.The Tories have a mountain to climb in terms of seats. Whether they can do it in one go is a really big question.
WCH-said...
"the last figure I read was that it costs someone well over £40k personally to run for an election"
You know your on a Tory Blogg when you read a statement like that!
"Voluntarily Stepping Down" the new euphanism for "If I was in a proper job, I'd have been sacked long ago."
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