The A list and its successors haven’t kept a golden generation out of Parliament. Many of those who might have made it up aren’t putting themselves forward for selection in the first place.
The collapse of a business empire revealed an extraordinary web of corruption which spanned British politics, and saw the leader of Newcastle council jailed.
Even amidst dire polling for the Tories nationally, nobody seems to think a 1997-style wipeout is on the table in Scotland.
Just as after World War Two, lockdown has hugely expanded the public’s expectations of the state – but hammered our ability to pay for it.
The key issue is the difference between EU codified law which prevents any action not permitted, and our common law, under which everything is permitted unless prohibited.
Thirty-four years ago, on 3rd April 1989, Edward Drewett Martell, a key figure in the post-war revival of the fortunes of both the Liberal and Conservative parties, died.
On some issues, he got it wrong. On other issues, he got it right but is misrepresented by some of his cheerleaders. And on other issues, he was right in the context of the time but circumstances have changed.
Every major electoral reform for the past two hundred years has been heralded as the death knell of Toryism. Instead our party adapted – and thrived.
The former chancellor understood that the best way to kick-start growth – and increase revenues – was giving individuals and companies the incentives to invest.
“If the Government takes the view that laws can be broken, the rule of law collapses. It breaches the trust of its citizens.”
This powerful focus is too often today reserved for the separatists in the devolved administrations who aim to divide us.
On the 13th of January 1913, the last formal private army in the history of the United Kingdom was established.
There’s a perverse tendency for doomed governments to play it safe. This approach didn’t save Stanley Baldwin or John Major, and won’t work now.
Sitting back and playing safe didn’t save John Major, and it certainly won’t deliver a majority for Rishi Sunak.
Although there is a clear ‘Sunak Effect’ among voters, running a presidential-style campaign exposes the Conservatives to the same risks as almost 80 years ago.