Day 1967: In their own words

Tuesday:


Mr Richard Willis, defeated Conservatory candidate for the seat of Sutton and Cheam had this to say on Political Stirring dot com

Tuesday May 23rd, post 365

I would be delighted if the comments I have posted achieved wider circulation!

Oh, Okay then…

I would be delighted if the comments I have posted achieved wider circulation! People are already beginning to see the true nature of so-called Liberal Democracy and the more they see the less they seem to like. BTW who says I will be fighting S&C again, or any seat for that matter!? S&C has yet to select and they may want another candidate!

It is hugely entertaining to hear the justification for why grandpa Ming is doing so well with 20% - “an historically good poll rating” etc. Clearly the Tories are suffering on just - oh - about twice the figure!

Of course we want to be doing better than 38%. But it is all about progress and direction of travel (which is what the LDs used to tell us). Having for so long listened to Lib Dims drone on about their “decapitation strategy” it is massively entertaining to see them decapitate their own leader and then start digging the ground away from his successor. Maybe the Lib Dims have learned and copied from old Tory habits.

The LDs derived much of their support from being seen as the “nice party”. With events in the last few months they look like the nasty party while “nice” Dave Cameron sails steadily upwards in the polls.

I think it was the LD gloating for the last few years and their patronising, holier than thou posturing that kindled the fire of dislike in me towards them. It is also seeing what they are like as losers (at the Sutton count) that confirmed my suspicions that many of them are far from “nice”.

The fact of the matter (as confirmed by several polls now) is that the LDs under Ming the Useless are going backwards. Slowly backwards I grant, but backwards all the same. As others have posted, he was meant to steady the ship and be enjoying his honeymoon period but the best he can muster is 18-20% in the polls.

I can hear more gnashing of LD teeth as I write this!

ColinW please feel free to copy and disseminate.

There are several points that we should be learning from Mr Willis. (Wot Yo' Lookin' At Willis?)

The EASIEST thing to spot is that, Mr Balloon aside, some of the Conservatories are STILL not very NICE and even seem to think that this is something that they should be PROUD about.

That is the EASIEST thing to spot, but it's probably not the IMPORTANT thing. Conservatory HUBRIS not, actually, news.

No, the IMPORTANT point is this one: "People are already beginning to see the true nature of so-called Liberal Democracy ".

Obviously, Mr Willis means this as an insult but that is because he is a BITTER old reactionary who lost to the Liberals (even if he seems a bit – "seeing what they are like as losers (at the Sutton count)" – DELUSIONAL about this) , but in his cries of anger and shame he reveals some truth.

People ARE starting to see the true nature of Liberal Democracy and – the opposite of what Mr Willis thinks – they LIKE IT.

That is why Mr Willis HATES us so very much: people hate what they FEAR. That is why Mr Balloon and his nice Conservatories are trying to paint a picture of themselves as DEMOCRATIC and LIBERAL.

Mr Balloon does not go to Manchester because he likes the Coronation Street Scene. Or even the Canal Street Scene(!) He goes there to look like a cuddly toy and not an oily PR merchant.

[There is a scene in Doctor Who in a story called "The Ribos Invasion" where the Doctor points out a conman to Romana.

"Oh," says Romana, "but he had such an honest face."

"You can't be a conman with a DIS-honest face," the Doctor reminds her.]


Mr Willis calls us "patronizing" and "holier than thou" (would he rather be in a party that was "more SATANIC than thou"?!?!?!) which is more name calling – obviously – but it's too easy for us to give name-callers ammunition.

We don't want to be ATTACKING Conservatories.

There are people who are THINKING of voting Conservatory and we would like to be thinking about voting for us. Attacks on the Conservatories will make people like that think that we are attacking THEM. They have perfectly honest reasons for thinking about buying what Mr Balloon is selling – even if we don't trust his reasons for trying to sell it to them. Some people might actually WANT snake oil!

We do want to CHALLENGE Mr Balloon.

We want to know what his policies are. No, seriously, he must have SOME idea what he thinks would make people happier.

Saying "we shouldn't reveal our hand three years before the election" does NOT cut the mustard. Parsnips – as their former leader Mr Major would say – it does not butter. This is NOT a GAME OF POKER for fluffy's sake, this is "how do we make things better? how do we make things better TODAY?"

We want to know whether his party is authoritarian or liberal? Are they for central control or a locali freedom? Are they at the heart of Europe or in bed with Mr Bush? Are they attacking the Labour Government or attacking US?

Why is he trying to face in TWO DIRECTIONS? It is very hard to face in two directions.

[R: unless one has two faces]

Mocking Liberals for not overtaking the Conservatories may make Mr Willis feel more macho but it rather misses the point.

The COUNTRY needed SOMEONE to stand up to the government and the Conservatory Party were – quite frankly – not up to the job. Going along with everything Lord Blairimort wanted to do: favours for big business, lock people up without trial, invade middle eastern countries – Conservatory opposition was at best spineless and temporary and at worst utterly complicit.

The COUNTRY needed an OPPOSITION and since the Conservatories wouldn't or couldn't provide it WE HAD TO.

Of course, the Liberal Democrats also want to be FIRST. That kind of means we have to go through SECOND on the way. It shouldn't bother us if we overtake the Labour before we overtake the Conservatories.

In the meantime, the Conservatories ARE doing better in the polls – people who have had enough of Lord Blairimort and his gang are looking for an alternative and Mr Balloon is, well maybe not popular, but at least PALATABLE. So the Conservatories have found a way to lift themselves out of the "box" between 30% and 33% in which they were stuck for a decade.

But what does that mean?

For starters, that means that they are no longer going to be saying "well, we always ignore opinion polls; it's the election that counts"; they are going to be shouting those polls from the rooftops and sticking them on leaflets and saying "winning here" a lot. (Yes, the rotten copy-cats always complain when we Liberals do that – but you watch how fast they snatch our techniques.)

Under Mr Something of the Night, for every two people who voted Liberal Democrat there were three people who voted Conservatory. Mr Balloon's campaign to look nice – or "nice" as Mr Willis keeps putting it; does he have a problem with nice? – combined with Lord Blairimort's determined efforts to drive his government completely off the rails have changed that. Now, for every two people who say that they will vote for Sir Mr the Merciless, FOUR people say that they will vote the Conservatories.

So what do we know? We know that that fourth person is SOMEONE WHO WILL CHANGE THEIR MIND.

We CANNOT allow Mr Balloon to just Hoover up these voters.

The POINT is that these people KNOW that they are looking for SOMETHING, something that is the answer to all of the problems caused by Lord Blairimort and his CRUSADE.

People are reacting AGAINST an authoritarian New Labour Project; the natural opposition to that ought to be a LIBERAL party. In fact OUR Liberal Party. We EXIST to stand up to BULLIES, and the biggest bully around at the moment is Lord Blairimort's government.

We need them to know that we HAVE an answer, a BETTER ANSWER. A LIBERAL ANSWER.


Do you want Liberal? WE'VE got Liberal!

You want a party to stand up for you against an incompetent Home Office that wants to punch, stamp, file and I.D.iot card you? WE'VE got Liberal for you!

You want a party that wants your local school to become a good school and stands up for you against an Education Department that wants to close it down and open a City McAcademy? WE'VE got Liberal for you!

You want a party that supports fair taxation where you pay if you can afford to pay and stands up for you against a Treasury that wants more and more stealth taxes? WE'VE got Liberal for you!

You want someone who will stand up to the busy-bodies and the form-fillers and the target-setters?

You want LIBERAL, and BOY-OH-FLUFFY-BOY have we ever got LIBERAL FOR YOU!