Tory candidates for Mayor of London
I see the deadline for registration has been extended.
Whether this brings forth the 'Big Names' the party are so keen on remains to be seen, but this is desperately unfair on the candidates who have already pitched in, doubtless spending a great deal of time and effort to get their campaigns up and running. There was a long lead time for would be candidates and should Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms Big (or come to that Doctor Big) come forward, it will take a lot for them to impress me given that they could not even manage to play within the pre-announced rules. Not impressed. At all.
I see the deadline for registration has been extended.
Whether this brings forth the 'Big Names' the party are so keen on remains to be seen, but this is desperately unfair on the candidates who have already pitched in, doubtless spending a great deal of time and effort to get their campaigns up and running. There was a long lead time for would be candidates and should Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms Big (or come to that Doctor Big) come forward, it will take a lot for them to impress me given that they could not even manage to play within the pre-announced rules. Not impressed. At all.
This entry was posted
on Friday, August 04, 2006 at 2:26 pm.
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I agree with you, Croydonian. This is desperately unfair to those who took a deep breath and jumped in, adhering to the announced deadline. These are the people with, if nothing else, nerve and a sense of mission.
To extend the deadline, hoping for a big fish to float in, is also very offensive to those who have already offered to climb into the ring with Livingstone. This is one more mistake on Dave's part and it will give Labour something to giggle about and use disparagingly of the candidates who have had the guts to declare on time.
I also agree that any big fish who languidly floats in after the extended deadline will be, in my mind, and the mind of fair-minded voters, null and void.
In fact, I think the people around any big names thinking of giving it a whirl will advise against it at this point, for the reasons you have noted and I agree with. They will look like self-regarding prats.
This is also horribly degrading to the people who have declared. The message being: you're not good enough. We expected better.
This is a truly horrible move.
And what is more it makes CCHQ's claims to be opening up and democratising the process look absurd: the whole point of party democracy is that it can throw up all sorts of unexpected consequences and can't be controlled by the men in grey suits.
it's absolute bollocks and merely confirms what I have always felt-DC is a vauous idiot.He may be ahead in the polls but that's through no effort of his.
Any big name will not come in now because all Ken will say is 'you didn't even really want the job'...
The likelihood is one of the five will have to do it and how they have had the rug well and truly pulled from under them.I am sick of maude and DC pretending they've got a clue what they're doing.
Me too, Rigger. It's so outrageous and so stupid that it takes the breath away.
This idiotic, and cruel, move has tipped me past the tipping point and I now know I will not vote Tory. I was going to hold my nose and vote for them, but if this is any indication of the ineptitude and sheer stupidity with which they would run the country, thanks but no thanks.
As long as the fat-faced, complacent, self-regarding Dave is in charge, I'm going with UKIP.
The deadline was extended because CCHQ believed that the current lot weren't good enough. The extension is a clear message to those candidates saying that they are not considered good enough to run for mayor.
Chris Palmer - Exactly. What a punch in the stomach to someone who was going to put their heart and soul into running on a Tory platform.
Any big name who strolls in after the deadline is jinxed. Labour/the BBC can have a giggle. They couldn't get anyone they thought could win, so the scraped the bottom of the barrel. You don't even want the job. You're just a dilettante.
And those other candidates who put their hearts into their speeches, well, frankly, my dear, Dave doesn't think you're good enough.
Now it's all coming out: Dave's a snob.
David Davis would never have made such a crude mistake.
How's Dave's disabled kid that he was touting around in magazine articles and on TV before he was annointed TB Mark II, anyway? We haven't heard anything about him and his wonderful NHS treatment for several months now. Must have served his purpose.
Just thought I'd remind everyone how sensitive Dave is. That's why he could kick sincere London mayoral candidates who stuck to the rules in the stomach. I hope this backfires on him dramatically.
At an absolute minimum, the decent thing for CCHQ to have done would have been to have put the word out /before/ Friday, rather than waiting until names were in (on time...) and then pigsticking them. A total bloody shambles and viciously unfair to the good people who had the belief in their abilities and sufficient courage of conviction to put their names forward.
James, Victoria, Warwick et al have every right to feel utterly disgusted.
I totally agree, Croydonian, and am still perturbed about this.
Those candidates filed on time. They prepared their programmes. They set up their websites. They had thoughts about how to tackle Red Ken and the fearsome problems of London. They put themselves forward for consideration by the voters - which cannot be an easy thing to do.
But Dave and his coterie have decided that they weren't good enough for the Tory party. Never mind that they were the ones who filed in good time, obeying the rules. I can't remember the names because I don't live in London, but there was a woman who wanted to bring NYC style policing to London. That would definitely be a boon to London and the tourist industry, as it was to NYC. There was a black man running as a Tory, surely to be treasured as the Tory party, or what's left of it, is seen to be exclusive. There is an engaging look to this man and he may have some good ideas ... but ... not good enough. The others equally had the nerve to put themselves up for judgement by the voters.
I realise I've infested this thread and galumphed all over it, but this makes me so angry. The sheer snobbery. Of course Dave and his people will say, they are just looking for someone they are sure can win. Not snobbery at all. Just looking for a winner.
Well, guess what, Dave. In life, you go with what you've got, and the people who filed within the time limit were what you had. You could have given heavyweight assistance in coaching for media interviews, coaching for holding one's temper, coaching for appearing confident even when quaking, coaching for John Humphreys interviews. Coaching for appearing on the hustings. (Dave, whose only work experience was in PR should have learned this,if nothing else.)
Every one of these guys is a fighter or they wouldn't have thrown their hats into one of the toughest rings in the world. They want to fight and they want to win. People of that calibre are your front line.
Does Dave really want a dilettante who strolls in languidly at the last minute in preference to a real fighter?
I hope their annointed Tory candidate, whoever it is, gets thrashed by Red Ken. I hope Red Ken wins by a landslide and ruins London even further.
Meanwhile, my sympathies are with those honest candidates who had the guts to put themselves forward, obeying, as Conservatives do, the timetable. Any normal Conservative Party would have valued you.
Dave wants someone ... just like him.
V- thank you, as ever, for your thoughts.
Being a Londoner, as I have been for my entire life (if we include the extra London commuter belt, and if we do not, most of 1984 - to date) I would still rather have some stooge from Central Office win for the blue team than have the wretched Livingstone showboating for another term. Anyone but Ken indeed.
While none of the folk putting themselves forward are household names, everyone has to start off somewhere and I believe that one of the great virtues of a popular vote is that a good man or woman can succeed without having the party apparat marching in lock step behind him or her. Examples of good people winning through in such circumstances are too obvious to be worth rehearsing here.
If this is just some ghastly charade then CCHQ should drop the fig leaf of partipatory democracy both here and elsewhere and enact some godawful PR-style party list system that rewards time servers and the 'great & the good' (gnash, grind...).
It is, to be honest, all a bit depressing.
The thing is, Croydonian: "I would still rather have some stooge from Central Office win for the blue team" is,this stooge won't win it because he/she doesn't have the fire in their belly to do it, which is why he/she didn't file.
If he/she didn't file because he/she knew the path was going to be cleared for him/her later, that's worse.
This will be seen as a betrayal and Tory support will melt away.
Dave is a horrible, horrible man. I don't know why people couldn't see it when he was first mooted.
Can't say I disagree with any of the comments or your points old chap. A right kick in the teeth to everyone that's applied thus far.
sorry to hear that Andrew,I will keep my membership for the time being but since DC came in I have been having real problems with what he's doing saying and not saying.come renewal time I fear we could lose a few,not least myself.
I voted for Basher at the time,a proper conservative
Yes, Andrew Kennedy. As I said above, that did it for me. I am now firmly decided not to vote Tory if that cheap sleaze is still leader. You wait and see, the annointed candidate will be a Dave fave. I see Tory sleaze is back with a bang.
Frankly, I think this stupid and venal move will do for the Tories. No one will be able to trust anything they promise. Any programme they moot will be changed at the drop of a hat. Their word doesn't mean a bloody thing. What a weapon they have just handed Labour to beat them with.
Talk about shooting yourself in the foot! Did they really not realise the damage this would do to the perceptions of their integrity? Dave's as sleazy as Princess Tony. If he and Maude are the toffs, bring on David Davis and William Hague. Don't tell me they haven't considered a palace revolution.
It's amateurish. Crass. And downright rude. Exactly what you'd expect from a party in the grips of an Old Etonian clique.
UK Daily Pundit - It's not just rude; it's haughty.
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