One of David Cameron’s finest qualities
is his ability to bounce back from near oblivion, when the media, pollsters and
membership have abandoned all hope. This was a point laboured by the newly
installed Chief Whip Michael Gove in the warm-up speech, where he emphasised
that leadership is about tough decisions, including telling your own party some
uncomfortable home truths.
For the many thousands of
delegates who arrived in Birmingham over the weekend, this will be remembered
as the conference where problems were turned into solutions and gloom was
transformed into optimism.
Across the halls in the ICC
and the meeting rooms of the Hyatt Hotel, Cabinet Ministers were preaching to
the membership that any defection was a betrayal not just to the party and our
people, but to our country. Indeed, this was a conference that for so many
obvious reasons seemed set to fail, yet the membership left with fire in their
bellies and a clear reason to campaign for a full majority next year.
Up until now, many
centre-right columnists had offered praise or support for the likes of Douglas
Carswell, revering him as a maverick. Quite how betraying the very people who
helped you get elected constitutes noble behaviour seems a mystery to true
believers in the Conservative cause.
But then again UKIP is a
magnet for political underachievers, who find themselves and their oddball
personalities thrust in the limelight; perhaps compensation for their repeated
failures in mainstream politics.
The defection of Mark
Reckless changed the narrative. From the Prime Minister downwards, every senior
Conservative sent a clear message to the membership – that ‘liars and traitors’
have taken them for granted and they should be punished heavily for it...
Read the full article at The Commentator
