Tories: Keep calm and carry on!
'Keep calm and carry on', an overused idiom but applicable nonetheless. Tory MPs must retain their sanity, calm down and recognise that whether they like it or not Theresa May is the best and only hope of their party winning a majority at the next general election.
I have never been the greatest fan of the PM. The 2017 general election campaign cruelly exposed her many limitations. She is no Margaret Thatcher. Yet if Tory MPs retain their sanity, keep calm and think realpolitik the PM is the best hope of their party winning a comfortable overall majority at the next general election.
These are not glory days for the British political system. With very few exceptions the quality of the political class has rarely been so mediocre and dull. There are very few great advisers. Fortunately for the Tories, the calibre of the Labour Party is even poorer. Hence the reason why the two major parties are still level pegging in the opinion polls.
Ordinary voters have basically switched off from matters political. They are sick of elections, bored silly with Brexit and fully focussed instead on ensuring that they get through life's daily challenges. If they do occasionally look at the Body Politic they shake their heads in disbelief at how awful it is. Little wonder the cinema audiences up and down the country are standing up and cheering Churchill's rousing speeches in The Darkest Hour…
Yet the dullness of British political life, combined with a genuine fear about the leftward direction of the Labour Party, provides the perfect backdrop for the PM and her government. Perhaps the PM is the right political leader for these strange times.
Since her bloody nose in last June's general election, the PM has consistently defied those in her party and in the media who predicted (and prayed for) her demise. No matter how hard she is punched, however, she always seems to bounce back, dress herself down and then plough on unfazed. I sense that the British public is starting to respect this doggedness and determination. Not quite the British bulldog spirit but …
Under the chairmanship of Brandon Lewis, the Tory Party will become more professional and crucially much more effective at getting across the government's key messages, particularly in those crucial marginal seats. Lewis is now one of the key Tories. If he delivers, the PM will be immeasurably stronger.
The PM's real problem is the message. It is hard to really understand what she really believes in. Perhaps she should take advice from the Daily Telegraph editorial which said that the government's first priority should be to make voters feel safer and richer. Not a bad starting point…
The PM is also fortunate that there is no obvious successor to her. So why don't Tory MPs stop behaving so stupidly, accept that she is staying, rally in support of her and start focusing their energy on the most extreme Labour Party in living memory? If they do, they will be surprised at just how easily they will win the next general election!
