Hague decided
to resign before the election was fully over. "No man is indispensable. No
man is more important than the party," he said. "It is vital for
leaders to listen and parties to change. I believe it is vital the party be
given the chance to choose a leader who can build on my work, but also take new
initiatives and hopefully command a larger personal following in the country.
I've therefore decided to step down as leader of the Conservative party when a
successor can be elected in the coming months. I will continue until that time
to carry out the parliamentary and other duties of the leader of the
opposition." Most of the media thought he had done the right thing. And on
Monday 11th June the papers were discussing how abnormal Hague was. Barbara
Amiel in the Daily Telegraph (p18) faced it head on and argued that
appearances do matter. Stephen Glover in the Daily Mail held that since
1997, the public has had the idea that the Tories were beyond the pale and not
on the same planet as normal people. Both writers said that Mrs Thatcher was not
normal either but that the times were different in the 1980s. Of course,
pristine liberalism might make Margaret Thatcher look like a card carrying
member of the Communist Party. But there was nothing in the campaign against
Hague over the last four years that could not be have been overturned in one of
those weeks that Harold Wilson so aptly described as being "a long time in
politics".
Old Hickory
The tendencies of democracies are, in all things, to mediocrity, since the
tastes, knowledge and principles of the majority form the tribunal of appeal.
Top 50 books of all time : by Old Hickory:- "I have limited the selection to the books I have read. I keep to the norm of not recommending to others books I have yet to read. Clearly, books I have not read by now suggests a judgement of some sort."
But there was nothing in the campaign against Hague over the last four
years that could not be have been overturned in one of those weeks
that Harold Wilson so aptly described as being "a long time in
politics"..
Hague decided
to resign before the election was fully over. "No man is indispensable. No
man is more important than the party," he said. "It is vital for
leaders to listen and parties to change. I believe it is vital the party be
given the chance to choose a leader who can build on my work, but also take new
initiatives and hopefully command a larger personal following in the country.
I've therefore decided to step down as leader of the Conservative party when a
successor can be elected in the coming months. I will continue until that time
to carry out the parliamentary and other duties of the leader of the
opposition." Most of the media thought he had done the right thing. And on
Monday 11th June the papers were discussing how abnormal Hague was. Barbara
Amiel in the Daily Telegraph (p18) faced it head on and argued that
appearances do matter. Stephen Glover in the Daily Mail held that since
1997, the public has had the idea that the Tories were beyond the pale and not
on the same planet as normal people. Both writers said that Mrs Thatcher was not
normal either but that the times were different in the 1980s. Of course,
pristine liberalism might make Margaret Thatcher look like a card carrying
member of the Communist Party. But there was nothing in the campaign against
Hague over the last four years that could not be have been overturned in one of
those weeks that Harold Wilson so aptly described as being "a long time in
politics".
