Although many dismiss the
Conservative leadership contest as being
irrelevant, as nobody seriously expects them to win a
general election in the near
future, I consider this to be a
turning point in
UK politics.
If
Iain Duncan Smith is
victorious, the Party will remain
right-wing, staunchly
Europhobic and
unelectable, handing unopposed power to the
Labour Party for decades. A
democracy with only one choice is tantamount to
dictatorship.
On the other hand, while
Kenneth Clarke may cause further
splits in the
Conservatives because of his
Europhilia (there is talk that some
MPs may even defect to the
British National Party if he becomes leader), he is still more likely to appeal to current
Labour voters, which makes him the
obvious choice. The fact that he currently looks unlikely to win the leadership only confirms everyone's
suspicions that the
Conservative Party is completely out of touch with
reality.
September 13, 2001. The result is in. The Tories obviously wish to commit political suicide: as the polls predicted, Iain Duncan Smith has been elected the new leader of the party with 61% of the vote. The Labour Party and Liberal Democrats, who eventually hope to take over as the main opposition, will doubtless be pleased at this news.