Friday 18 July 2008

 

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Clemency Burton-Hill
Clemency Burton-Hill

Clemency suggests


Bye bye whatever your name was

Tuesday, 16th October 2007

Small earthquake in Chile. Not many dead.

The modern equaivalent is yesterday's resignation by Ming Campbell, a second rate politician from a second rate party. I thought the Times had it bang on today, according the story a small little box on the right of the front page. 

Fraser wrote yesterday on Coffee House that 

I regard Nick Clegg as much of a certainty to replace Ming as Blair was to succeed John Smith in 1994.

I can't speak with knowledge about the LibDem electorate's propensity to do the sensible thing, but if they have any sense that indeed is what they'll do. 

But this needs to be kept in proportion. The LibDems are essentially an irrelevance, and althought they may bob up and down in the polls a bit, they will always be that. Where they can make a difference is as Daniel Finkelstein observes:

although Tories have very big disagreements with Clegg, he talks openly about the problems of big government, state interference and monopolies in health and education. His election would help to shift the centre of gravity in the political debate towards the freedom loving right. This would be a very big gain indeed.

And if the LibDems act as a protest vehicle for Labour voters who can't quite stomach Cameron, that is all to the Tories' good.

I'll have more to say about this later in the week, when I'll link to a column on it.

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Jonathan

October 16th, 2007 5:12pm

But if Clegg as LibDem leader is going to use the same language as the "freedom loving right", surely he is more likely to take votes from the Tories rather than from Labour?

Stephen Pollard's Blog Roll

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A daily must-read. 

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Marginal Revolution
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Harry's Place
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Public Interest
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