Tory yacht-boys or conservative government?
Posted by Richard D North under Dare to be dull / Death of ideology / Post-Bureaucratic world on 28 October 2008
In the post-ideological world, political parties have a clear choice. Robbed of the chance to pretend to want to change the world, parties need to convince the voters they are managerially sound. That, or offer to be sexy, smooth, celebrity types – in the manner of Blair. Likewise, they can offer proper government or insist on ruling informally from a sofa in The Den at Number 10. Where are the Tories in this game?
The signs are not good at this moment. The Tories are leaving it perilously late to make well-grounded policy statements. They are having at best a mediocre credit crunch. David Cameron seems a litle too keen to hog the limelight.
Worse, in terms of their presenting themselves as solid, their shadow chancellor seems to have no idea how to draw the line between being a man of the world and being a plaything to the super-rich.
George Osborne has a private office part-funded by a Rothschild and schmoozes an oligarch client of the Russian mafia state on his yacht while it is moored off the villa of another Rothschild.
This fuels gleeful speculation that David Cameron’s loyalty to an inner coterie of toffs may be unhelpful.
Tending the other way is plain fact that people like Michael Gove are plainly important to the Conservative’s bid for power. What’s more, the shadow cabinet seems to have its fair share of talent, Eton or not. It could afford to let the maverick David Davis do his diva thing.
We need every sign that David Cameron is proud of his savvy, grounded heavy-hitters and wants them to develop and promote consistent policy. And care about the proprieties.
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