Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Ken Clarke
Clarke defeated in first round for Tory leadership
Ex-chancellor Ken Clarke has been knocked out of the race to become the next leader of the Conservative Party.
The self-styled "biggest beast" came fourth in the poll of Tory MPs, gaining 38 of the 198 available votes, well and truly "smoked out".
Commenting on his failure in the ballot, he added: "I think it sends a message that they are looking for a younger leader probably, but I don't think my age was actually remarkably relevant," he said.
Philip Webster, Political Editor of The Times, said the result of today's first ballot in the Tory leadership race was a major boost for the Cameron campaign.
Clarke's leanings towards Europe over the last two decades have probably been decisive in his failure to collect sufficient votes from Tory MPs to keep him in the race for the leadership, and he is now likely to be seen doing a "brown suede shoe shuffle" back to the backbenches.
Conservative Members of Parliament will now hold another ballot on Thursday when a third candidate will be told "thanks but no thanks"; rather like television's "X Factor" we will wait to see whether "Dr". Fox, "Dull" David Davis, or "Dashing" David Cameron will be sent home. The remaining two candidates will face a vote from party members in the country before a winner is declared in early December.
Meanwhile in South Shields the local Conservative Association have been remarkably slow to respond to hints from Curly's Corner Shop to clean up their website, despite me leaving comments on their Blogger Blog, and making telephone calls to local officers, the person responsible for updating their page has still not reacted, and it is still full of comments from "spammers" promoting their own sites and services.
_________________________________________________________________
Ex-chancellor Ken Clarke has been knocked out of the race to become the next leader of the Conservative Party.
The self-styled "biggest beast" came fourth in the poll of Tory MPs, gaining 38 of the 198 available votes, well and truly "smoked out".
Commenting on his failure in the ballot, he added: "I think it sends a message that they are looking for a younger leader probably, but I don't think my age was actually remarkably relevant," he said.
Philip Webster, Political Editor of The Times, said the result of today's first ballot in the Tory leadership race was a major boost for the Cameron campaign.
Clarke's leanings towards Europe over the last two decades have probably been decisive in his failure to collect sufficient votes from Tory MPs to keep him in the race for the leadership, and he is now likely to be seen doing a "brown suede shoe shuffle" back to the backbenches.
Conservative Members of Parliament will now hold another ballot on Thursday when a third candidate will be told "thanks but no thanks"; rather like television's "X Factor" we will wait to see whether "Dr". Fox, "Dull" David Davis, or "Dashing" David Cameron will be sent home. The remaining two candidates will face a vote from party members in the country before a winner is declared in early December.
Meanwhile in South Shields the local Conservative Association have been remarkably slow to respond to hints from Curly's Corner Shop to clean up their website, despite me leaving comments on their Blogger Blog, and making telephone calls to local officers, the person responsible for updating their page has still not reacted, and it is still full of comments from "spammers" promoting their own sites and services.
About Me
Curly Born in 1956
Sanddancer
Sunderland fan
Male
Retailer
Former Borough Councillor
View my Profile
Contact
Email Curly
south-shields AT
blueyonder DOT co DOT uk
Got a story?
Got a tip off?
Got some scandal?
Let me know!
07941386870
Search
Search this site
Comments
How do I make a comment on this blog?
Links
Curly's Corner Shop website
Curly's Photoshop
My Message Board
Shields photo gallery
RTG Message Board
Sunderland AFC Blog
Site Feed
Blogroll Me!
Past
December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007