Charles Moore’s column in the Telegraph today on Cameron and the 1922 is quite an indictment of the way that the new Prime Minister has treated his parliamentary party. Charles has long been an advocate of Cameron. As Thatcher’s official biographer and the most trusted Conservative-leaning journalist of his generation, he has played a crucial role in explaining Cameron to the party. He has offered reassurance to the party that their leader is one of them. Criticism from a man who called Cameron the most skillful Tory leader of the opposition since Disraeli cannot be lightly dismissed by the Cameroons.
Charles is surely right that this coalition cannot continue happily, or successfully, if Conservative backbenches feel that they are regarded by their leadership purely as lobby fodder. Cameron’s ability to run the coalition will be compromised if he is constantly having to fire-fight problems within his own party which is why it is imperative that he brings his party with him.
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