Thursday, July 7, 2016

Extremist Leadsom reaches the final two after novel "Vote for Gove so he can be given a damn good thrashing" pitch fails to resonate

Conservative leadership election, second ballot :

Theresa May 199 (60.5%)
Andrea Leadsom 84 (25.5%)
Michael Gove 46 (14.0%)

Michael, you have been evicted.  Please leave the Tory Madhouse.  (It's not pantomime booing, babes, they actually do hate you.)

There was some speculation that the notorious (not to say hilarious) email begging MPs to vote tactically for Gove was always intended to be leaked, to ensure that the "Michael is willing to take a damn good thrashing over the next two months" message got out to as wide as audience as possible.  If so, it backfired spectacularly, because he actually got fewer votes in the second ballot than in the first.  Who could possibly have foreseen that such a stunt would further tarnish both his reputation and his credibility?

Anyway, we now move on to a lengthy head-to-head members' ballot between Andrea Leadsom and Theresa May.  And it sounds like it will indeed be very lengthy, because the Leadsom camp are understandably resisting any attempts to shorten the timetable - they need plenty of time to build their relatively unknown candidate up.  Today's outcome also makes it much less likely that the whole thing will be called off in favour of a May coronation - it's possible that if Gove had finished a distant second to May, he might have been pressurised into standing down on the basis that he was very well known but had still been rejected, but Leadsom can reasonably claim that the momentum is with her and that there is still a realistic prospect of the members choosing her.

The outcome of this contest will be hugely important for all of us in the independence movement.  Although Theresa May's tentative stance on negotiations with the EU effectively rule out the Norway option and continued membership of the European Economic Area, it's probably safe to say that Brexit will happen slower and take a slightly less extreme form with May than it will with Leadsom.  Judging from my exchange with Duncan Hothersall earlier, it sounds like some in Scottish Labour will be praying for May to come out on top, because it's their only hope that they will still have some thin excuse for continuing to oppose independence.

OK, it's not impossible that Ken Clarke is right, and that Leadsom is just a chancer who will backtrack on all of her crazy promises as soon as she is elected.   But if she doesn't, she'll back Labour into a corner.  That could lead to a dramatic realignment in Scottish politics on the constitutional question - and one that would render independence near-enough inevitable.

42 comments:

  1. Either one will be a boost to the independence movement in Scotand.

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    1. "Leadsom can reasonably claim that Momentum is with her"?! (Para 3)

      Oh, wait... let me just read that again...

      ;)

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  2. Will Leadsom be Boris's puppet?

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    1. Glasgow Working Class 2July 7, 2016 at 7:18 PM

      You are a glove puppet someone has their hand up yer erse manipulating you Nat si bhoy.

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    2. No one's interested in your weird kinks, troll.

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  3. To be fair to Leadsom, she is a nutter, but she performed quite well campaigning for Leave.

    May is Cameron and Osbornes safety net re Brexit

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  4. Glasgow Working Class 2July 7, 2016 at 6:33 PM

    The woman is an extremist! What kind of extremist James? A looney tune muslim murdered a man in Shawlands that is extremism.

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    1. Right-wing authoritarian, just like you, troll.

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    2. Glasgow Working Class 2July 7, 2016 at 7:54 PM

      I am to the left of you and the Joke Nat si party by a large margin Nat si bhoy.

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    3. Your Nazi obsession and classic psychological projection tactics prove my point. Oh, and lay off the ethnic slurs.

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    4. Glasgow Working Class 2July 7, 2016 at 8:07 PM

      You said this previously Nat si bhoy. Sorry to disturb you while Deutschland are playing.

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    5. Ethnic slurs instead of a reasoned discussion. There's a surprise.

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    6. Glasgow Working Class 2July 7, 2016 at 8:38 PM

      Whats an ethnic slur Nat si bhoy?

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    7. You know perfectly well. I'm not spelling it out for you, troll.

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  5. I just cannot see Kezia Dugdale and the clique that surrounds her (Murray, Hothersall etc) ever genuinely supporting independence. Sure, Dugdale has made noises in possibly supporting independence, but we know that she is a Brit nat careerist at heart. Even if she and SLAB did officially support independence, it is too late for it to be particularly credible among the wider electorate imo.

    At any rate I cannot really see past Theresa May for the Tory leadership and also PM, I don't think she is particularly talented, and is not charismatic, but she at least seems to have steel, determination and conviction, even if it is in the batshit crazy Thatcherite variety.

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    1. I wouldn't trust Dugdale either. She's easily blown either way by the wind. Only yesterday I caught a wee snippet of an interview with her. When pushed about indy2 she jumped straight to a wee scaremongering tactic about UK splitting into countries with 2 currencies, the pound and the euro. She's not even that well informed ffs. Michael

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    2. There is certainly more than a hint of Groucho Marx's 'Those are my principles, if you don't like them, well I have others' about Kezia Dugdale.

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  6. I would put Dugdale down as the uber careerist before saying she's genuinely a British Nationalist given her upbringing.

    Definitely willing to say and do anything to further her career but bleed red, white and blue. I very much doubt that.

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    1. I am not convinced Dugdale is not a Brit nat. There are a few prominent SLAB activists who are well known for their hatred of the SNP and independence. I suspect Dugdale has been influenced by them, nothing in what she has done in Scottish politics up to this point suggests that the opposite is the case.

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    2. I think Kez plays a very good game of making the right noises someone in her position would be expected to do but I don't think her motivation comes from a love of the British state, more that it pays her wages

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    3. Dugdale spent four years as a research assistant to Lord George Dipsomaniac. Some of the SNP hatred was bound to rub off.

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    4. Oh I don't doubt she hates the SNP. A woman scorned and all that.

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    5. Dugdale's father is in the SNP and has been so for some years.

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    6. Dugdale is just a puppet, her comment during the election that she might support independence destroyed their campaign and moved unionist labour voters to the tory party.

      She is not a talented politician and she is thick as mince.

      If she had any ounce of sense, she would seek to fill the devo max void that exists in Scottish politics, and that 30 odd % of the electorate believe in. Yet she doesn't and still clings onto a tired mantra that her voters clearly do not believe in.

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  7. Maybe someone will "overhear" Dugdale saying she hopes May will be PM!

    The softening on independence by some on the Unionist side is a ploy. They like the idea of a second referendum because they believe another No victory will finish the SNP and the Yes side for a long time, if not for good.

    British Labour and Rowling are opposed to Scottish Independence under any circumstances.

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    1. I tend to agree with you Provost. I think in the immediate aftermath of the EU referendum result, Rowling and a few others pretended to be open to independence. I think it was all for show. Darling, Brown, Murray, Dugdale, Rowling, Findlay, Reid, Wilson etc, and most of the remaining Scottish Labour MSPs would almost certainly never back independence, they have staked too much on their British nationalism already.

      We may see some former Labour MSPs, such as Malcolm Chisholm, Henry McLeish, John Robertson (I think Robertson was making noises along with the first two), support independence but even that is probably as good as it is going to get. Perhaps one of Labour MEPs will support a Yes vote, if there is going to be a second independence referendum within the next few years or so (given the Brexit vote). I cannot see any Liberal Democrat or Tory MSPs supporting independence.

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    2. On the other hand, some diehard SLAB supporters are definitely making Yes noises. They've either been taken in if this ploy you describe is true, or they're thinking for themselves. Either way, I think that once you start to embrace an idea the door is open for further development of it. At the very least Dugdale would have to concede to accepting a "free vote" on it. Everthing in politics is becoming so much more polarised now, and while that's not necessarily a good thing when you look at Trump's USA or post brexit vote UK, there's no room for Kezia's wishy washy now you see me now you don't approach to, well everything! The people will decide, and I'm cautiously optimistic but it'll take time and hard work and a lot of debunking of pure rubbish.

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  8. Glasgow Working Class 2July 7, 2016 at 10:45 PM

    You sweaty Nat Si bhoys are nothing but porridge wogs.

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    1. Control to agent 23, control to agent 23. Authentication: plastic prole.
      Advise caution on selection of language; uncertain that Scotch types refer to each other this way. Control will research further.
      Control signing off.

      Delete
  9. Trust me anyone who wants Scotland to be independent best hope that May doesn't become prime minister, she will be a pipette to the Tory MR.

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  10. Trust me anyone who wants Scotland to be independent best hope that May doesn't become prime minister, she will be a pupett to the Tory MP. I write one thing and this tablet does the opersit.

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    1. Glasgow Working Class 2July 7, 2016 at 11:53 PM

      Anon, you are drunk go to bed and you may awake good looking!

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    2. Control to agent 23, control to agent 23. Authentication: plastic prole.
      Advise caution on selection of language; uncertain that misquoted Churchill impresses Scotch types. Control will research further.
      Control signing off.

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    3. WELL HALLO THER "JOCK" HAHAHA. Still embarassing yourself I see.

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  11. James, can you not prevent posts from GWC2, it puts me off reading your blog, as is his/her intention.
    Also what are latest polls saying re the question that matters most to the majority who visit this site?
    "You sweaty Nat Si bhoys are nothing but porridge wogs." surely that alone is enough to ban someone

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    1. Glasgow Working Class 2July 8, 2016 at 12:40 AM

      It was probably you Nat si bhoy who posted the wog nonsense.

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    2. It's not beyond your capabilities, troll. You have a track record for racist insults on here.

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    3. This is JOCK :D :D :D Yeah he thinks that scots call each other Jocks. Methinks NOT from Glasgow nor anywhere near it. He's a joke and not a Jock.

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    4. You seem to be the only one replying to him Anonymous , perhaps if you stopped feeding him he would shut up !.

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    5. Logically impossible to do, while still allowing anonymous posting. Denying anonymous posting is not a good idea.

      The girl's a troll, everyone knows she's a troll, and some people seem to enjoy baiting her quite a bit.

      I'll admit that I don't read much below the line unless I'm in the mood to laugh at her though.

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  12. Glasgow Working Class 2July 8, 2016 at 11:30 AM

    Surprised James allows rascist terms on his blog even from a Nat si impersonator.

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    1. Hi Nadine. Lunch tomorrow at the Toby Jug in Chigwell? Call me.

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