Oct 16 2007
Campbell tries to help his party
Sir Menzies at last broke his silence and tried to persuade us that it was his unfettered decison to go.
I would find that more credible if he had agreed to stay around until the new Leader was elected, if he had made the original statement rather than leaving it to Cable and Hughes, and if Cable and Hughes has supported him properly in interviews before he decided to go.
The pattern of events and statements looks as if he did feel under pressure from his party to go. His two main lieutenants did not actively support him in the way you have to support a Leader under pressure.
His late intervention in the dispute about the circumstances of his downfall leave many questions unanswered, and evidence pointing the fact that too many senior Lib Dems did want him to go. The press did not make it all up.
RSS Feed
John Redwood has been the Member of Parliament for Wokingham since 1987. First attending Kent College, Canterbury, he graduated from Magdalen College...
Earlier that day, his leadership was ‘under discussion’, which means he was in dialogue with probably several key Lib Dem figures and obviously he could see the end result coming so jumped before he was pushed.
You can just tell that Ming Campbell is itching to tell us what really happened, but we might have to wait a while.
http://lettersfromatory.wordpress.com
More and more the Liberals are starting to look like a cloak and dagger party with plots and sub plots that would make Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar look tame. Protest party politics really is a cut-throat business where a party that exists by proxy has its own regular night of long knives. Certainly to us, the ordinary members of the public, it seems that Hughes and Cable are the prime movers behind all the disharmony in the party. Perhaps it is Hughes and Cable who are the problem for the Liberals? Particularly Hughes who seems to have an uneven and unpredictable character. One thing is for sure, the Liberals will be back for another night of long knives before too long.
Good chap to have as a spokesman on foreign affairs about which nobody could care less. Useless as a leader and very poor body language (made the Queen look good) as they have had their last chance in the elections and wasted it I’m afraid it’s all over.
bit rich for you to talk about plotting john! have you forgotten your own part in the plotting against sitting conservative leader john major?
Reply: You are completely wrong.I never plotted against John Major. I was very loyal to him whilst serving in his government. I resigned from his government when I wished to disagree, and then stood for the Leadership when he resigned. Very different from staying in the Cabinet or leadership team and briefing against anonymously.
It gets better yet, Sir Menzies is reportedly now hoping that Gordon Brown will come to his rescue with a new post. Never mind the fact that Ming blocked Paddy Ashdown from such a request by Brown. Whatever next?
Charles “Oz” Clarke - We now what comes next - the inevitable. Ming will be offered a “job” as long as Brown’s big tent isn’t looking like the circus variety and Ming will humbly accept. The new Lib Dem management will say it is not the least bit embarrassing and is not indicitive of any cosiness with Labour, only Ming’s indispensible talent, which they have dispensed with.