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Month: September 2017

Tomorrow night’s C4 Boris documentary looks set to add to Tory tensions over Theresa

Tomorrow night’s C4 Boris documentary looks set to add to Tory tensions over Theresa

Tomorrow night at 10 PM a documentary on Boris Johnson by Gary Gibbon is due to be screened on Channel 4 and judging by some of the extracts so far released it looks set to unsettle CON delegates in Manchester. This is the start of an article on the programme by Gibbon in The I. “Several months before the general election, Boris Johnson returned to the Foreign Office after a meeting with Theresa May, flanked by her powerful joint Chiefs…

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With the CON conference starting David Herdson says what’s wanted is vision

With the CON conference starting David Herdson says what’s wanted is vision

‘Getting on with the job’ simply isn’t good enough “I have a dream”, said Martin Luther King, in one of the greatest speeches of the twentieth century. It was a dream he wanted to share and did share, and it was – and is – remembered not just for the eloquence of that initial delivery but for the righteousness and simplicity of the vision. In doing so, he did what every great political leader does: inspires and reinforces confidence among…

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Tory membership reported to have dropped by 40k since GE17 and might now be below the LDs

Tory membership reported to have dropped by 40k since GE17 and might now be below the LDs

A report tonight by the former political journalist of the year, David Henke, says there’s been a huge reduction in Tory members since GE2017 and that the total is down to 100k. In an interview John Strafford, chairman of the Campaign for Conservative Democracy is quoted as saying “the real membership of the party has plummeted to around 100,000” a figure that is well below the 149,500 used by the party in 2013. “The party is facing oblivion. If you…

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In head-to-heads Johnson comfortably beats main contenders in latest YouGov CON members’ poll

In head-to-heads Johnson comfortably beats main contenders in latest YouGov CON members’ poll

Good YouGov infographic from its CON members' poll for the Times. The top 3 in head to heads pic.twitter.com/D5LTJKPhxG — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) September 29, 2017 CON members’ take grim view of party’s GE17 campaign By 88% to 10% CON members in YouGov Times poll think that party campaign was badly run — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) September 29, 2017 Tory members’ complacent of JC’s chance of becoming PM YouGov/Times CON member's pollChance of Corbyn becoming PMLikely 12%Unlikely 82% — Mike…

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New YouGov CON members poll finds fewer than a third wanting TMay to carry on till the General Election

New YouGov CON members poll finds fewer than a third wanting TMay to carry on till the General Election

New YouGov CON members poll for Times find just 29% saying TMay should continue until next GE pic.twitter.com/brNDbyZ3Ep — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) September 28, 2017 And Boris back as top choice of members YouGov Times CON members has Boris back in top slot pic.twitter.com/wM5BcL8fPU — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) September 28, 2017

Tories who want TMay out well before the general election are going to have to forcibly remove her

Tories who want TMay out well before the general election are going to have to forcibly remove her

First Secretary of State, Damian Green, makes clear she’ll go on I’ve been of the view since June that TMay’s objective was to try to remain in office to fight the next election which, if she succeeded, would make amends for GE17. The “she’ll step down quietly after Brexit theory” has never convinced me. This view is supported today by the minister who is closest to TMay than anyone – her old Oxford friend from decades ago, my old BBC…

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Be careful what you wish for

Be careful what you wish for

Alastair Meeks on EU politics and Brexit How they chortled.  For three months, loyal Conservative Leavers have had to endure the taunts of their opponents, sneering at the way in which Theresa May called an unnecessary election to secure a Brexit mandate and mislaid her majority.  And now their nemesis, Angela Merkel, has suffered a similar fate.  Despite many months of polls showing them cruising to a healthy win, the CDU and the CSU tallied just a third of the…

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