Excellent analysis of Cameron’s woes in the Sunday Telegraph today.
What I find endlessly fascinating is the Conservative Party’s almost limitless capacity for self-destruction. Even when Campbell was having trouble a couple of months ago, the limit of dissent was a couple of bloggers shooting their mouths off. By contrast, at least 2, possibly 6 MPs have written to the 1922 Committee expressing no confidence in him. The noises off in the media suggest there are a lot more who haven’t (yet) put pen to paper.
With Brown now in place, the big question is, can Cameron do substance as opposed to froth? The answer, it currently would appear, is a resounding no. But if he can’t, can anyone in the Tories do it without having the appeal of Roger Knapman? Is the next General Election going to turn into a retread of the last, with the Tories shoring up their core support in a bid for survival? That may be too much to hope for, but it is clear that the sunshine days are over.
UPDATE: Via Andrew Rawnsley, an excellent quote from Gordon Brown which perfectly sums up Cameron’s piss-poor handling of the Grammar school debacle:
‘It is not leadership to try to have a Clause Four moment and then sack the man who tried to do it for you.’
Is the next General Election going to turn into a retread of the last?
I fear that is exactly what may happen. That is Labour will be gifted the result with both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats operating well below par.