Britain's Conservatives oust leader, try to avoid battle over replacement

Associated Press ^ | 10-29-03

[Brian S]

Lawmakers in Britain's opposition Conservative Party ousted their leader Iain Duncan Smith in a no-confidence vote Wednesday, and party leaders began to unite around a possible successor in hopes of averting a fractious leadership battle.

Former Cabinet minister Michael Howard emerged as a favorite replacement when another possible contender, former party chairman David Davis, said he would not seek the leadership and promised his support to Howard.

[Pikamax]

bring back john majors!

[Free_at_last_-2001]

...supported a Tory lawmaker who disclosed he was gay, and sought to make the party more inclusive by attracting more women, ethnic minorities and young people. - bad Iain

he failed to land punches even when Blair was on the ropes over the unpopular war in Iraq - good Iain

[struwwelpeter]

Duncan Smith, the 49-year-old son of a World War II fighter pilot and a ballerina

Whew, for a moment there I thought they meant "son of a World War II fighter pilot, and a ballerina."

[Pyro7480]

The situation the Consevative Party finds itself in is partially due to John Major. Bring back the Iron Lady! ;-)

[proxy_user]

Disband the Tory party. Start a new party based on conservative principles, individual liberty, and decentralized government, not on social class.

[Zack Nguyen]

LOL.

[You Dirty Rats]

That new party would be lucky to get 10% of the vote in Britain or any other European country.

[TheBigB]

What's your take here, Ivan?

[Praxeologue]

Start a new party based on conservative principles, individual liberty, and decentralized government, not on social class

That new party would be lucky to get 10% of the vote in Britain or any other European country.

Margaret Thatcher, shopkeeper's daughter, attracted over 50% of the votes.

Britain needs a leader who can persuade the populace of the merits of these principles.

You may be trapped in Arnold-think.

[headsonpikes]

He might as well have been a ballerina as Tory leader for all the good he's done.

[aculeus]

Bring back the Iron Lady! ;-)

Unfortunately she is not well.

[Unam Sanctam]

Whew, for a moment there I thought they meant "son of a World War II fighter pilot, and a ballerina."

"I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK.."

[RobFromGa]

I vote for MadIvan as the new Tory Leader.

[dr_who_2]

bring back john (sic) majors!

No offense, but why?

[dr_who_2]

Margaret Thatcher came from a middle class background. So did John Major, if I recall correctly.

[nickcarraway]

John Major is probably the only leader in world history to lose an election with such a fantastic economy. (though, in his defense, I supposed 18 years of rule by one party was a factor)

[MHT]

Would love to see a picture of his replacement. I hope he has hair. It was impossible for Smith because he's not telegenic. Blair photographs well, is tall with a great head of hair and big smile, and he made Smith look like an aging nerd by comparison. In a time when movie stars are winning elections and style is winning over substance (particularly in star-struck Diana-lovin' UK), the conservatives need to find someone with a little sex/youth appeal.

Sadly, people don't want to listen to what you have to say if they don't want to look at you. I've talked to many very frustrated conservatives in UK and many of them don't even understand how much more personal and economic freedom they would have if they could break the chains of entrenched socialism. BBC has little competition so "fair and balanced" alternative ideas don't seem to get presented to the people for discussion. There is no Rush Limbaugh or talk radio over there, which makes me wonder if anything will change until they have some sort of groundswell grassroots movement. Which media would feed this movement, with tv so limited and radio nonexistent, I cannot imagine. Back to pamphlets and tabloids?

[Truth666]

"Would love to see a picture of his replacement. I hope he has hair. It was impossible for Smith because he's not telegenic. Blair photographs well, is tall with a great head of hair and big smile, and he made Smith look like an aging nerd by comparison."
There's a theory that labour controls the tories to explain this. That would also explain why Hague (the previous leader) came out with a story about drinking 10 pints of beer a day when he was younger, before the last elections ...
Another version of the same theory is that
- someone else (it would have to be a secret society in that case) controls both the government's party and the leadership of the opposition in the EU countries (Labour and Tories, SPD and CDU in Germany, Chirac and the Socialist Party in France and so on).
- since it's essential to create a sense of stability in these troubled times, they have on the agenda now reelecting the current goverments.

[GiveEmDubya]

Iain Duncan Smith was a man of principle, and I respected that, but he had as much charisma as a wet dish rag.

Consequently, the guy they want to replace him with [Michael Howard] also has the charm of said dish rag.

When the Iron Lady left, apparently she took all the voter appeal with her.