Post by account_disabled on Feb 27, 2024 0:43:35 GMT -6
Inside Politics is edited by Georgina Quach. Follow Stephen on X @stephenkb and send gossip, thoughts and comments to insidepolitics@ft.com The conservative sun has set Have the conservatives already passed the point of total collapse? Do voters simply exclude them and wait for the opportunity to vote them out? Robert Shrimsley believes there could be: One of John Major's cabinet ministers once compared the relationship with voters in recent years to a couple about to divorce, staring at each other while toasting and where “even the sound of milk on cornflakes is a source of of irritation.” In those final months, Conservative MPs stopped believing they could win the next election, leadership hopefuls prioritized their own ambitions, and media supporters argued over how to shape the party after a defeat.
Above all, voters simply stopped listening to conservatives. It didn't matter that Major was a decent man and Kenneth Clarke an impressive chancellor, the public had seen enough. Efforts to change the narrative were Jordan Mobile Number List consumed by bad news, gaffes or minor scandals that seemed to epitomize decline. All this must sound familiar to Rishi Sunak. Once again we see a government with a studious prime minister and a capable chancellor trying to look fresh after too many years in power. And yet, as one ally laments: “The country doesn't seem interested in what we say.” It is certainly possible that most people have decided that the Conservatives have been in power for too long and that a change of government is now necessary. Certainly, considering the government's lackadaisical and tone-deaf response to the problem caused by autoclaved reinforced cellular concrete, or Raac (the extent of which is yet to be determined), it does not look like an administration that will budge on its fate.
In many ways the position of the current Conservatives, of John Major in 1997 and, indeed, of Gordon Brown in 2010, seems similar. We have a government that has been hit in part by external events beyond its control, but also one that has made its share of mistakes and that bears direct responsibility for some of the crises facing the party and the country. You have an opposition that no longer scares the horses. But there is an important difference. Major had already achieved a surprise victory for a veteran government. While his record in office is something Rishi Sunak lacks, he was, inevitably, a familiar face to a tired government. Gordon Brown had been an important figure in the life of the country and the party for almost a decade and a half by the time of the 2010 election. Three years ago, Sunak was essentially unknown outside Westminster. (Even some in Westminster dismissed him as a figure for Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings when he was appointed chancellor.
Above all, voters simply stopped listening to conservatives. It didn't matter that Major was a decent man and Kenneth Clarke an impressive chancellor, the public had seen enough. Efforts to change the narrative were Jordan Mobile Number List consumed by bad news, gaffes or minor scandals that seemed to epitomize decline. All this must sound familiar to Rishi Sunak. Once again we see a government with a studious prime minister and a capable chancellor trying to look fresh after too many years in power. And yet, as one ally laments: “The country doesn't seem interested in what we say.” It is certainly possible that most people have decided that the Conservatives have been in power for too long and that a change of government is now necessary. Certainly, considering the government's lackadaisical and tone-deaf response to the problem caused by autoclaved reinforced cellular concrete, or Raac (the extent of which is yet to be determined), it does not look like an administration that will budge on its fate.
In many ways the position of the current Conservatives, of John Major in 1997 and, indeed, of Gordon Brown in 2010, seems similar. We have a government that has been hit in part by external events beyond its control, but also one that has made its share of mistakes and that bears direct responsibility for some of the crises facing the party and the country. You have an opposition that no longer scares the horses. But there is an important difference. Major had already achieved a surprise victory for a veteran government. While his record in office is something Rishi Sunak lacks, he was, inevitably, a familiar face to a tired government. Gordon Brown had been an important figure in the life of the country and the party for almost a decade and a half by the time of the 2010 election. Three years ago, Sunak was essentially unknown outside Westminster. (Even some in Westminster dismissed him as a figure for Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings when he was appointed chancellor.