LEADERSHIP RACE BORES LOCAL TORIES?

By Sue Perb

AS the drawn-out droneathon to elect a new national Conservative leader drags on into a 16th week, Tory associations across Cumbria remain coy about who they’re rooting for in the final two.

Faced with clipboard Conservative Robert “Generic” or fire-breathing foot-in-mouth Kemi “Badenough”, Cumbria’s five Tory constituency associations are tight-lipped over who they favour. On Facebook at least.

Who knows, maybe they dislike them both? Because not one Tory page in Cumbria has nailed its colours firmly to the wobbly mast.

Is this due to some petty party rule that local associations cannot promote one finalist over the other? Or is it because the final two are duller than wet bread?

Both Carlisle Conservatives and Penrith & Solway Conservatives haven’t mentioned the leadership election at all. Ever.

Westmorland & Lonsdale Conservative Association last posted in August when Tom Tookmehat visited. They have not posted since.

Barrow & Furness Conservative Association recirculated news of the final two on 9th October but avoided backing a candidate.

The closest to a public show of support on Facebook was Whitehaven & Workington Conservatives.

On 16th October, the WW&C page shared a post showing various analytical data of why Robert Generic is the best person for the job. (Spoiler alert: This was Generic’s own post and data!)

This week marks more than 16 weeks since the Tory leadership election was first announced. By the time it finishes on 2nd November, it will have lumbered on for 130 days – dynamic decision-making at its finest!

In a recent YouGov table of The Most Popular Conservative Politicians (is there such a thing?) Badenough was ranked outside the Top Ten in 13th place. Generic was in a lowly 44th.

John Major (oh yes), who hasn’t been an MP for 23 years, is 4th on the list.

It looks like we are entering a period of Tory insignificance like the doldrums seen under Iain Duncan Stiff and the William Vague era.