Cameron And The Tories

I think I find the election of Cameron as the new Tory leader considerably less exciting than the majority of British commentators, probably both because his actual coronation had been so long trailed that it was hardly particularly newsworthy when it did happen and because I was abroad, avoiding most of the attempt to whip up some half-arsed simulcra of interest when his ascension finally took place. There's also the consideration that the next general election is probably at least four years away, and if, as is tediously repeated at every opportunity, a week is a long time in politics, then what seems important now could well have all the relevance of the day to day concerns of the Triassic by then. On the other hand, for all the truth of MacMillan's observations about events, the basic patterns of British politics of the post-Thatcherite era are fairly unlikely to be totally obliterated, so these thoughts may be worth having a little look at.

I particularly like 'nothing gets old like newness': as both Shuggy and Jamie observe, Cameron is Blair lite, the iron fist inside the warm, mushy, emoting velvet glove, in touch with the ordinary people precisely so he can grab at them by the balls, and the interesting question is how, in the long term, both the media and Blair react to this attempt to out-brand the dominant political brand of the day. If I was a Tory though, I would be cautious. What was once the natural party of government has now been out of power for eight years, and by the time the next general election, barring accidents, comes around, twelve, which will then be the longest period since the middle of the nineteenth century. That Tory collapse was precipitated by the rightwing's opposition to Peel's removal of the Corn Laws, which had controlled the inflow of foreign corn into the country, raising the market price and so profits for the native squirearchy, who just happened to be the foundation of the party's national support. One wonders whether the ridiculous mess which the Tories got themselves into over Europe could have had the same impact.