Leadership pitch: Rishi Sunak addressing Croydon Tories. It’s unclear whether bouncers Perry and Creatura were on the door to stop people getting in, or to prevent people getting out
Our mole in the Croydon Conservatives was quite impressed by the flying visit of the former Chancellor. And with his shoes
Liz is down in Surrey but we’re told she’ll come to visit us, too.
But with a good two days’ notice, on Friday we had Rish! down here at a church hall in Purley, talking to and, better, meeting and chatting with party members.
Some Conservative politicians looking for party members’ votes usually just give a quick speech, take a couple of questions and are then out the door before anyone’s had a chance to catch their breath, off to court the next set of voters.
David Cameron came to Croydon for 15 minutes at the beginning of an Association dinner during his leadership campaign, made a condescending joke about “Croydon facelifts” that no one laughed at, and then set off for Sutton. Richard Ottaway, the then Croydon South MP, was Dave’s driver from Westminster and on to Sutton, so at least he bagged some quality time with the soon-to-be Tory Leader.
Party unity: Rishi Sunak and some Croydon Tories. But who was not there?
Our current Croydon South MP, Chris Philp, who supports Liz, was not there. I don’t know why.
On his arrival, Rish! gleefully embraced Deputy Mayor Hale and later took a picture with our Mayor Perry and the rest of us.
The key difference with that Cameron visit 17 years ago was that Rish! seemed genuinely to want to get to know everyone there. He made a real effort to try to speak with us all.
When speaking and answering questions, Rish! said he wanted to back small businesses, which will have gone down well with our local businessman and part-time Mayor Perry.
Rish! seemed keen to put money the way of the NHS and happy to fill gaps in NHS staffing with recruits from overseas.
He would not be drawn into condemning the European Court of Human Rights, after a question from our Loony fringe, John Cartwright. Rish! did underline that we had gained our independence from Europe.
We were now going to have our own Bill of Rights, Rish! stressed, and we needed to be aware of asylum being taken advantage of.
Rish! spoke of Brexit benefits, although he did not get around to specifying them. As PM, he said, he’d be keen to exploit those unspecified benefits.
There are still Barwell people in our councillor team, I feel, but the comment from the former MP on Brexit would not have found any open support in today’s meeting.
“This leadership election is taking place in an imaginary world where Brexit hasn’t made us poorer, we’re not facing a climate emergency and tax cuts don’t need to be paid for,” his Lordship tweeted.
Time has moved on in the Tory party and many members see Barwell as being out of order and just bitter about the mess he made of Brexit and losing Croydon Central.
Anyway, Rish! was mobbed after speaking but he took the time to talk to the more bashful of us, too.
Grumbling in the background: ‘Lord’ Barwell’s latest critique of his party’s leadership
On education, when he spoke with individual members, Rish! (Winchester and Oxford) said, “Well, look, I believe in education excellence. So we need to look at everything, right? Whatever is going to work and make the difference, we should be prepared to do.”
This was a support for grammar schools, a policy that goes down especially well with South Asian heritage voters in Croydon, but has never been tried by Croydon Tories after Margaret Thatcher abolished grammar schools.
I was impressed with Rish!
Honest and genuinely likeable, I thought. And nice shoes, too.
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I’m puzzled by the posters the Tories are holding up in the photo with Sunak. It looks as though any message has been scrubbed out. Rather like ordinary people’s prospects whoever wins the leadership race.
No mention of Suplimely Mario. There holding up the wall in the first picture. With Mario’s record of picking winners it looks like Sunak’s struggling campaign with the Tory electorate is sunk.
‘Supinely’, surely?
He does supinely sublimely. He deserves a neologism invented by the word checker.
I am amused by the purported refeence to the Bill of Rights. Having had a quick gander through it all seems well.
Except –
No fundamental improvement for the individual
A lot of powerful words but with appendages like greater weight and definition then Freedom of speech as a matter of utmost public interest. So is that a litmus test? I can say what I want only if of the utmost public interest? Who determines that then?
Right to trial by Jury? But no effectively funded defense! Cracking job that!
Limits courts’ powers for certain rights. Human rights, especially Article 8 (right to family life) So what about death by developer and council planner? Where and when is the right to life actually taken into account by our planning department? Now they do not even have to by law?
I like Rish but make no bones it is not just unfortunate different skinned immigrants being transported to ex colonies (did not one minister think how that looked?) but fundamental precedental laws we are used to are being redefined in gymnastic language. So should we consider Rwanda’s record of Human Rights?
We are being trussed up like kIppers and served with Rishi sauce! Methinks we are being treated to an ostensible ”Bill of Rights” that is illusory and at best will serve only specific needs of specific parts of society and the rest just get told tocomply or just get ignored You know a bit like Planning decisions by Croydon Council!
I note the only one smiling is that Creature! ah sorry misspelling my bad!