The Conservative Party takes two out of five votes cast, and it is not going to drop much below that in the foreseeable future. It will always manage one in the three, as it does here in North West Durham.
But the party itself is tiny, and its membership comes almost entirely from a wildly untypical subculture in which, among other things, the Church of England is still an institution of the utmost importance. The True Blue 33 to 40 per cent of the electorate will vote for whatever that party gives it, as has always been the case in the past.
Although it was largely pushing at an open door, the Church of England was absolutely central to the Conservative Party's adoption of the Beveridge Report and to its acceptance of the Attlee Settlement, an adoption and an acceptance without which it would never have won a General Election until 1983, or, in the case of support for the National Health Service, until after New Labour had done its damage from 1997 onwards.
And the Church of England will be even more important to the Conservative Party's inevitable adoption of the report of the IPPR Commission on Economic Justice, and to its acceptance of the coming Corbyn Settlement when Labour is the largest party in the next hung Parliament. Led by the Church of England, the process of that adoption and acceptance has already begun, and anyone who does not like it can lump it, since without it, there would never be another Conservative-led Government.
The real trouble will be on the Labour backbenches, infested as they are still going to be with pro-austerity and pro-war fanatics who had merely happened to be too cool for the Tories at university. Another hung Parliament is coming, however, and our people need to hold the balance of power in it. My crowdfunding page is here, or email davidaslindsay@hotmail.com for other options. That address accepts PayPal.
But the party itself is tiny, and its membership comes almost entirely from a wildly untypical subculture in which, among other things, the Church of England is still an institution of the utmost importance. The True Blue 33 to 40 per cent of the electorate will vote for whatever that party gives it, as has always been the case in the past.
Although it was largely pushing at an open door, the Church of England was absolutely central to the Conservative Party's adoption of the Beveridge Report and to its acceptance of the Attlee Settlement, an adoption and an acceptance without which it would never have won a General Election until 1983, or, in the case of support for the National Health Service, until after New Labour had done its damage from 1997 onwards.
And the Church of England will be even more important to the Conservative Party's inevitable adoption of the report of the IPPR Commission on Economic Justice, and to its acceptance of the coming Corbyn Settlement when Labour is the largest party in the next hung Parliament. Led by the Church of England, the process of that adoption and acceptance has already begun, and anyone who does not like it can lump it, since without it, there would never be another Conservative-led Government.
The real trouble will be on the Labour backbenches, infested as they are still going to be with pro-austerity and pro-war fanatics who had merely happened to be too cool for the Tories at university. Another hung Parliament is coming, however, and our people need to hold the balance of power in it. My crowdfunding page is here, or email davidaslindsay@hotmail.com for other options. That address accepts PayPal.
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