It's the launch of the Conservative Party conference today and it's struck me that they seem to be going absolutely nowhere. Policies are all over the place, they fight amongst themselves, and the grass roots supporters dislike Howard.

If anything they seem to be recreating the Party that was kicked out in 1997 :loopy: This morning we tried to name Tory MP's and we came up with no more than 6.

Are they dying out? Can they survive? Will they go bust? Should they bring back William Hague?

There's an amusing letter in today's Guardian:

In 1990, polling fewer votes than the clowns of the Monster Raving Looney party at the Bootle byelection was enough to cause the winding up of the SDP. Now the Tories have polled fewer votes than the clowns of Ukip surely they should call it a day and wind up like the SDP did.

which pretty much says it all.

What exactly is the "plot" - that's the real question :P

Peter Stringfellow,at a tory rally ,say's Tony Blair Die,is this bloke the biggest moron on the planet,he said it was just an off the cuff joke.Well off the cuff joke or not,the bloke should get his stupid hair cut & grow up ,some Yorkshireman he is.

Originally posted by Tony
[B]It's the launch of the Conservative Party conference today and it's struck me that they seem to be going absolutely nowhere. Policies are all over the place, they fight amongst themselves, and the grass roots supporters dislike Howard.


I couldn't believe my eyes yesterday afternoon, watching Sky News - there was Michael Howard being interviewed outside a broken-down ladies toilet in the middle of nowhere. What an unbelievable PR gaffe - Howard's standing there with a sign saying "Womens" over his head, with the added indignity of said convenience not working!

Funniest thing I've seen in ages!! :D

Do the Tories have any PR advisers any more, or have the rats all abandoned the sinking ship? I cannot believe serious advisers allowed yesteday's PR farce to occur. I have no love whatsoever for the Tories (very much the opposite) but even I felt embarrassed for Howard.

It gave me a good laugh, but seriously, where is any opposition to Tony Blair's New Labour going to come from? As a former student of Politics, I find the lack of credible political opposition in this country to be very troubling. It's no wonder that so many people (especially younger voters) don't bother with voting - who is there to vote for?

StarSparkle

How can the Tory be a party in decline?

I've just seen a short film in which the shadow cabinet inform us of their musical taste, one of them is so hip he just bought the “debut album by the scissor sisters“.

Wonder if the PR bloke who told him that was trendy album to buy also told him the meaning of the bands name.

I hoe you can all get your hands on a copy of this film it has saved Labour the money for an anti Tory election campaign

very good speech by the Letwin bloke jsut now however, maybe they will have a confrence boost ending Labours plans for a snap election.

Originally posted by Disco_Cat
How can the Tory be a party in decline?

I've just seen a short film in which the shadow cabinet inform us of their musical taste, one of them is so hip he just bought the “debut album by the scissor sisters“.

Wonder if the PR bloke who told him that was trendy album to buy also told him the meaning of the bands name.

I hoe you can all get your hands on a copy of this film it has saved Labour the money for an anti Tory election campaign Well DC I always said that he was a **** artist lol

"We now have a bigger civil service than the population of Sheffield."

- Oliver Letwin (I like the way he chose Sheffield - he recognises it as a big city).

I notice that Anne Widdecombe is supporting a attempt on the Tory Leadership by a candidate whose wily cunning and popular appeal far exceeds that of the current hapless incumbent, Howard.
http://www.political.co.uk/annwiddecombe/images/jrpic12.jpg

Well here we go,lower taxation & what services will get cut to pay for these tax cuts.The Tories are obsessed with tax cuts.Why don't they just slip away quietly & no one will notice.

Originally posted by Phanerothyme
I notice that Anne Widdecombe is supporting a attempt on the Tory Leadership by a candidate whose wily cunning and popular appeal far exceeds that of the current hapless incumbent, Howard.
http://www.political.co.uk/annwiddecombe/images/jrpic12.jpg

Boom boom!

I think it is premature to predict the complete demise of the Tory party. Their Hartlepool result was dire, but they are still the second most popular party in national polls. It is possible that the UKIP could do to the Tories what the Alliance did for Labour in 1983; they won't win enough votes to get any seats under the anti-democratic First Past the Post electoral system but will take away enough votes from the Tories to deny them many seats.

In the 2005 election, turnout could fall to 50%. Labour's share of the vote could slump to about 33%, yet they might still be able to win a 100-seat majority due to the right-wing vote being split between the Tories and UKIP. A Parliamentary majority on the support of just 17% of the electorate.

If UKIP do manage to establish themselves as a permanent presence, they may eventually enter an electoral alliance with the Tories, as between the (very right wing) Liberals and the National party in Australia; or the two parties could eventually merge like the Progressive Conservatives and the Reform party in Canada. In this case, I would foresee an exodus of pro-European Tories to the LibDems.