UK General Discussion:The Rt. Hon Alex Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, Populist Hero

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The more you read and see about Jack Dromey, the more tragic his sudden death becomes. Whilst it is clear that he is currently known for his time in parliament, you can tell from the tributes that this was merely a culmination of a long and fruitful life.

He was involved in or very near to so many of the big flashpoints in recent British Labour History, from Grunwick all the way to the demise of Longbridge. His death is such a huge loss to memory.

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The (somewhat amusing) story about his original selection for the constituency has inevitably been doing the rounds in the past 24 hours, he soon enough showed he was worth his place though.

Yes, the thing is he was an effective constituency MP* and also an important voice for Birmingham generally. He'll be sorely missed in the city.

_{*One cannot say quietly effective as he was not quiet: he was a regular on Midlands Today especially, usually for reasons relating to his constituents.}

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It should probably be noted that one of the few things the infamous Labour Party Rule Book is clear about is that campaigning for, or even endorsing, a candidate running against an official Labour Party candidate is grounds for automatic expulsion. In other words, a situation like this would put an awful lot of people in a very difficult position and for that reason alone it doesn't feel likely. Though it wouldn't surprise me if some of the more delusional people in his circle think otherwise. Fundamentally, though, how likely are any to speak to the Telegraph?

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A rule they're happily bending to welcome back the Libdem/TIG turncoats from 2019 who left in a huff over Corbyn.

Have any of the MPs who joined TIG been readmitted? I wouldn't be surprised if it eventually happens (at least half of the lower profile SDP defectors rejoined Labour from the late 80s onwards) and would even be mildly surprised if Mike Gapes at least doesn't, but I've not heard of it happening yet. Anyway that's a different rule and has always been interpreted pretty loosely by leaderships of all stripes. I think the only time this rule was waived was during the first London Mayoral election.

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Meanwhile, partygate seems to be breaking out again.

A curious increase in the amount of relatively baseless shit-stirring wrt Labour in right-leaning papers did make me wonder whether... and here we are!

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Who was the last PM to resign purely over their personal conduct? I’m not sure if Edens morphine addiction counts.

Amphetamines: had it been morphine then Suez would not have happened

So, Eden and Asquith both resigned (forced out in the case of Asquith really) due to poor decisions made as a result of substance abuse, but neither case really qualifies, as you say, as purely personal conduct. Which means, and this sounds absurd but I think it's true (though will admit that my knowledge of 18th century Prime Ministers is a little hazy at times so may have missed something...), that the answer is arguably Robert Walpole. And even then you can argue that the (many) scandals wouldn't have finished him off had his position not been so undermined by Britain being dragged into The War of Jenkins Ear against his wishes.

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Lots of criticism about the pre-DoE funeral party. Does anyone doubt that the DoE himself would have approved of such a thing? Then again the DoE had a stronger sense of humour than most.

He would have found the scandal extremely funny (it being exactly the kind of darkly inappropriate farcical situation that he was known to enjoy), but he would not have approved.

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My exclusive take on to-day so far: LOL

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Landslide intakes are usually pretty poor - the high quality of Labour's '45 and '97 intakes disguises the broader pattern. The '59 Conservative and '66 Labour intakes were not very good, those from the various Thatcher landslides were pretty lamentable* and it is considered polite not even to mention the '31 Conservative/National intake. This also holds internationally, with Canada providing (both federally and provincially) some especially striking examples.

_{*Whereas, perversely, Labour's 1983 intake was famously, paradoxically impressive.}

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Very relevant to the topic at hand as, of course, he also crossed the floor. After a fairly rocky start he made himself quite at home in his new party, sufficiently so that senior party figures came to trust him a great deal, which is not normal for defectors.

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He's also avoided clearing out the Whips Office even though its just about the worst for a government party in living memory. Which is having consequences...

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More veiled allusions to the open secret that the PM has a drinking problem, I note.

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Mark Spencer confirmed as the worst Chief Whip in history. No, not because of the accusation, which is horrible but would not in itself reflect on competence in that job. No. For the brain-dead tweets about it - literally the opposite of what someone in that post is supposed to do.

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More are capable (as is often the case with minorities matters are conditional: e.g. the 2019 GE was a low ebb) of voting Conservative than often assumed, particularly in local elections,* and the number of Muslims with Conservative Party membership cards isn't tiny.

_{*Mostly notably in West Yorkshire, but also in certain parts of Lancashire and random places elsewhere, notably High Wycombe.}

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Please stop. Thanks.

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A lot also started to support and vote for the party again, but never rejoined it. For the most part those who remained in the LibDems after, say, 1992 or so were those whose commitment to social democracy had become pretty loose and who fitted better into a liberal party anyway and those who would have found it very difficult to go back because of all the bridges burned but felt a need to remain in a political party almost out of habit. A small number also became Conservatives - this was mostly a thing with young people who had joined the SDP without previous political activism or Labour membership,* but also included John Horam, the MP for Gateshead West 1970-83 and then (as a Conservative) for Orpington 1992-2010. He's now in the House of Lords and has become increasingly weird in his old age.

_{*Including several future Cameron-era cabinet ministers.}

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Out of Downing Street, always something new...

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https://twitter.com/NadineDorries/status/1485687149836001283

Might want to reconsider this line of defence, perhaps.

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A lot also started to support and vote for the party again, but never rejoined it. For the most part those who remained in the LibDems after, say, 1992 or so were those whose commitment to social democracy had become pretty loose and who fitted better into a liberal party anyway and those who would have found it very difficult to go back because of all the bridges burned but felt a need to remain in a political party almost out of habit. A small number also became Conservatives - this was mostly a thing with young people who had joined the SDP without previous political activism or Labour membership,* but also included John Horam, the MP for Gateshead West 1970-83 and then (as a Conservative) for Orpington 1992-2010. He's now in the House of Lords and has become increasingly weird in his old age.

_{*Including several future Cameron-era cabinet ministers.}

Going back to this, there's a degree of uncertainty in a few cases in part because (of course) most of the people in question left public life. One case where matters are very uncertain concerns someone who did not: Bob Mellish. Mellish did not join the SDP when he was still an MP and did not do so immediately on his elevation to the peerage, but Tam Dalyell's obituary (for The Independent) states that Mellish joined up a little later and deeply regretted doing so and found being outside the Labour Party difficult. Dalyell was a friend of Mellish's for thirty years so would probably know, but other sources (some of which are normally reasonably reliable: photo agencies and so on) state that he never joined the SDP, while his Wikipedia biography says that he was a LibDem member after the merger, but does not provide a source for this. All a little confusing and I might have a poke around any newspaper articles I have online access to if I get sufficiently bored to try to figure this one out.

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This is... not correct.

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You know, I don't think he judged the mood very well there.

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Incidentally, if Johnson were to repeat a certain lie outside the Commons chamber, he would almost certainly face a libel suit which, were it to happen, he would certainly lose and would certainly have to pay extremely heavy damages.

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When your team are briefing about 'damage control' when you're still speaking, you're not doing very well are you?

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A White Paper as well. With... what... three years at most of this parliament to run? Hahahahahaha.