Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Cameron must head for the common ground

All the attention last week was on the Lib Dem split – but what about the division within the Conservatives? This is the greater threat to the coalition, and while there is not likely to be an earthquake soon, one can discern the outlines of the tectonic plates. Ladbrokes has odds of 5-2 of an election next year, and these don’t seem so short when one considers the short life of coalitions in British peacetime history. So where might the tension lie? A while ago, I referred to the bulk of the party as “mainstream Conservatism,” as a more useful phrase than the tautological “Tory right”. Tim Montgomerie last week drew a distinction between this and what Ken Clarke calls “liberal Conservatism”. I wrote about this in my News of the World column today, which prompted an email from a Tory MP saying how many of his colleagues are asking “what is the point if everything I stood for in May is just ignored in office – power with out principle is pointless and deeply unsatisfying”. One can agree or disagree with the sentiment, but there are rising concerns among the Tory backbenches. They won’t rebel, there is no plan for regicide. But it’s worth looking a little at what’s going on.

Mainstream Conservatism can be defined as the beliefs shared by most Conservative members, in common with the public. Euroscepticism, for example, can scarcely be found in the House of Commons, yet only a third of Brits think that EU membership is “a good thing”. So being Eurosceptic might mean one is on the fringe of Westminster opinion (or that of the metropolitan elite in general), but pretty well aligned with general public opinion. Newspapers (and magazines) are read regularly by a minority of people: they tend to reflect the views of their target readers.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Keep reading with a free trial

Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. After that it’s just £1 a week.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

Or

Unlock more articles

REGISTER

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in