- Location
- Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
Niccolò Machiavelli was a famous diplomat and politician in renaissance Italy, in the 1400’s and 1500’s. Political skulduggery and manipulation was one of his many talents, and arguably the one with which he left the greater mark….given that we still refer to a devious politicians scheming as ‘Machiavellian’.
And it’s hard not to see what went on in Westminster last week as just that…devious and manipulative. We’ve known all along that Boris has considerable depth behind the bumbling persona he projects. For me at least the jury had been out until he took office as foreign secretary. As the Mayor of London I consider he’d acquitted himself reasonably, but once he was on the world stage, things started to unravel somewhat. He’d alternatively show flair and resolution, and then careless incompetence. As the months have gone on, I’ve found myself not likely Boris very much at all, and now I think we’ve seen what he’s actually made of. His camps apparent careful manoeuvring, to ensure he was up against a weaker candidate in the last stage of the race is a very sad indictment of what a moral poo-hole politics is. It looks very much like he used his admittedly strong backing of Conservative MPs in Westminster to tactically remove the more capable individuals as the field thinned. And while I was indifferent to the fate of some of them, and actively dreaded what Michael Gove would do to the country, as I’ve said, Rory Stewart impressed me from the get go.
And as the race went on, it was becoming clear that the wider public thought so too. By the time it was his turn to be surgically removed from the running, it was evident something was going on. We’ll stop for a moment and consider the nature of the process, because there is a world of difference between thinning a wider field, where the babble of voices makes it hard to choose, through to the final ‘first place’ race we’re in now. It’s the bit in the middle where the spotlight needed to dwell….and of suggestions of MPs trying to corrupt who is in second place. It appears some Conservative MPs do not want the deciding membership vote to be between the 2 best candidates, effectively Shanghai-ing the process. Now you might kindly believe that they know best, and are only doing this for our own good. Take your medicine children…it’s make you grow big and strong. It might be because they don’t wish the wider party to take them toward the middle ground, which Rory was clearly going to be doing.
It might be that they fear he wouldn’t be able to hold the team together and win a General Election, although I’m being a bit charitable now. Obviously, taking a party into a GE, you’ve got have more than just the most rational mind and decent sense of purpose. If you haven’t got flair – that zing- it’s likely that neither the electorate and those you’re working with will wholly respect you, and if you aren’t perceived as having the killer instinct, voters will assume you might fail to press the metaphoric button come the last minute. Maybe that was the fear. But I don’t buy a bit of that. I believe the field was thinned to suit ‘Camp Johnson’s’ basest desires and fears. So we’re left with Boris, and one of the …er…less able candidates.
And while I might have judged Jeremy Hunt wholly wrong, and he might have depths I haven’t sussed…. I think it’s a forgone conclusion now. What a very great shame, and what an extension of the sorry state we are in. I suppose the upside is that we’re likely rid of Gove for a good while now. Watching his carefully coached performance during the Channel 4 debate, my skin crawled. I’d have said the first rule of taking lessons in how to win people over is that they shouldn’t be able to see you doing it. And the way he jerkily switched his attention from questioning audience to ‘direct to camera’ was both pants, and very apparent.
I didn’t feel he was talking directly to me- the viewer and voter, despite a desperate faux earnestness. The real problem is that he creeps me out.
Along the line, I didn’t like the aggressive cut of yer man Raab, nor the ‘Look at me, I’m doing really well’ Javid fella. No, Rory spoke quietly, but said the right things, and stole the show…but he’s been dumped for it anyway. Hmm, it’s a funny old world.
Now, where was it Machiavelli came from……. ?
And it’s hard not to see what went on in Westminster last week as just that…devious and manipulative. We’ve known all along that Boris has considerable depth behind the bumbling persona he projects. For me at least the jury had been out until he took office as foreign secretary. As the Mayor of London I consider he’d acquitted himself reasonably, but once he was on the world stage, things started to unravel somewhat. He’d alternatively show flair and resolution, and then careless incompetence. As the months have gone on, I’ve found myself not likely Boris very much at all, and now I think we’ve seen what he’s actually made of. His camps apparent careful manoeuvring, to ensure he was up against a weaker candidate in the last stage of the race is a very sad indictment of what a moral poo-hole politics is. It looks very much like he used his admittedly strong backing of Conservative MPs in Westminster to tactically remove the more capable individuals as the field thinned. And while I was indifferent to the fate of some of them, and actively dreaded what Michael Gove would do to the country, as I’ve said, Rory Stewart impressed me from the get go.
And as the race went on, it was becoming clear that the wider public thought so too. By the time it was his turn to be surgically removed from the running, it was evident something was going on. We’ll stop for a moment and consider the nature of the process, because there is a world of difference between thinning a wider field, where the babble of voices makes it hard to choose, through to the final ‘first place’ race we’re in now. It’s the bit in the middle where the spotlight needed to dwell….and of suggestions of MPs trying to corrupt who is in second place. It appears some Conservative MPs do not want the deciding membership vote to be between the 2 best candidates, effectively Shanghai-ing the process. Now you might kindly believe that they know best, and are only doing this for our own good. Take your medicine children…it’s make you grow big and strong. It might be because they don’t wish the wider party to take them toward the middle ground, which Rory was clearly going to be doing.
It might be that they fear he wouldn’t be able to hold the team together and win a General Election, although I’m being a bit charitable now. Obviously, taking a party into a GE, you’ve got have more than just the most rational mind and decent sense of purpose. If you haven’t got flair – that zing- it’s likely that neither the electorate and those you’re working with will wholly respect you, and if you aren’t perceived as having the killer instinct, voters will assume you might fail to press the metaphoric button come the last minute. Maybe that was the fear. But I don’t buy a bit of that. I believe the field was thinned to suit ‘Camp Johnson’s’ basest desires and fears. So we’re left with Boris, and one of the …er…less able candidates.
And while I might have judged Jeremy Hunt wholly wrong, and he might have depths I haven’t sussed…. I think it’s a forgone conclusion now. What a very great shame, and what an extension of the sorry state we are in. I suppose the upside is that we’re likely rid of Gove for a good while now. Watching his carefully coached performance during the Channel 4 debate, my skin crawled. I’d have said the first rule of taking lessons in how to win people over is that they shouldn’t be able to see you doing it. And the way he jerkily switched his attention from questioning audience to ‘direct to camera’ was both pants, and very apparent.
I didn’t feel he was talking directly to me- the viewer and voter, despite a desperate faux earnestness. The real problem is that he creeps me out.
Along the line, I didn’t like the aggressive cut of yer man Raab, nor the ‘Look at me, I’m doing really well’ Javid fella. No, Rory spoke quietly, but said the right things, and stole the show…but he’s been dumped for it anyway. Hmm, it’s a funny old world.
Now, where was it Machiavelli came from……. ?
