Digby Jones wanted to be Tory mayoral candidate

David Cameron revealed at a lunch with MPs yesterday that former CBI head Sir Digby Jones had approached him about being the Conservatives' candidate for London:

"Digby Jones - he spoke to me a couple of months ago about standing as our candidate for Mayor. He said he was interested and seemed keen but then he went off and the idea went away."

The revelation was hardly accidental - Digby Jones has just been nominated for the Lords by Brown so he can be Minister for Trade Promotion and Investment. To further annoy some of the ambitious Labour Lords and MPs he refuses to join their party or say who he will vote for.

Deputy Editor

Update: PA suggests Cameron had a little more involvement than implied.

6pm update: Digby Jones is arguing with the Party about whether he said he would stand for it or not

Comments

[realcon]

Rabid europhile - that says it all about him.

[Martin]

I'm not sure Cameron comes out of that as well as he thinks he does - why didn't he follow up the obvious interest from a credible candidate?

[Og]

What a tart. Better off without him. I doubt he had the profile to worry Livingstone.

[TomTom]

He's a regular Nicola Horlick type needing a publicity boost

[Jeremy]

As every day goes by DC seems to be trying to convince me he is an idiot.

BBC are now running story with Digby Jones saying this is rubbish. Yet another DC created farce.

[Quentin! Quentin! Leave those sheep *alone* and come here to vote for gay rights, there's a good boy]

"Yet another DC created farce". Sorry your keyboard must have stuck, you obviously meant to type "Yet another Labour activist writing made-up comments". The car crash of PMQs has really got to you guys innit. Your name directs one to conservatives.com by the way.

Anyway Digby Jones. He's that corporatist type. He'll be right at home in the Brown cabinet then. Doesn't that publicity photo of him tell you more than he intended? In another life, Lord Digby Of Jones, you would have been Sir Alan of Sugar. I bet there's a lot of teeth-grinding in the Jones household Should Have Been Me.

As a credible contributor to British politics, "Digby", you're fired.

[TomTOm]

In another life, Lord Digby Of Jones, you would have been Sir Alan of Sugar.

Not sure I understand your point.....do you mean Zucker = "Sugar" therefore in another life Digby Jones would have been Jewish ?

[tapestry]

Brown's winding up his own party as he desperately grapples with his approval rating. When will Labour Party pressure valves start to emit steam?

Poor old Digby only wants a job. Brown's found him one. We can do better.....with our very own Bonking Boris (epithet borrowed from famous German tennis player). No need to stray outside the Party like Gordon, who cannot find any talent within his own - except himself. Cameron's spoiled for choice.

[Gillian Hensley]

You know, this is an exercise, undertaken by the party, in how to be completely useless.

The fact is that Digby Jones expressed a strong interest in being the Tory Mayoral candidate for Birmingham, but the morons on the front bench, in the leader's office and at CCHQ, couldn't be bothered to change party policy on this. Of course, we all know things are going fantastically well for our party in Birmingham and other Midlands and Northern cities (and for that matter the forthcoming London Mayoral election) that we can obviously afford to pass up such opportunities--NOT.

And now it transpires Cameron may also have been dishonest about his role in this discussion, just as Boris Johnson was encouraged to deny the obvious fact that it was the leader's office approached him. Nick Robinson is a very reputable journalist, not given to making things up.

One begins to wonder if perhaps Boris Johnson is not the only clown in the circus.

[Londoner]

From the quote from Cameron "he wanted to be our candidate for Mayor", people may just have jumped to the topical conclusion that it was London. It certainly makes more sense, given where he came from, for Digby Jones to have been interested in Birmingham.

But I have to disagree that we were wrong not to suddenly change our policy and start lobbying for there to be an elected Mayor of Birmingham just because some semi-celebrity fancied the idea of standing for it. One reason we might be doing well in Birmingham might be partly because they do not have this burden of having to find a Mayoral candidate, which, for big cities, requires a nationally known figure for a job with, at best, limited attractions for most national politicians.

I'd rather fancy being the directly elected Governor-General of an independent Isle of Wight. I think I'll approach Cameron asking him to adopt a policy to create such a post, so I can stand for it.

[Quentin! Quentin! Leave those sheep *alone* and come here to vote for gay rights, there's a good boy]

Not sure I understand your point.....do you mean Zucker = "Sugar" therefore in another life Digby Jones would have been Jewish ?

Posted by: TomTOm | July 06, 2007 at 02:47 PM

No of course I didn't mean that! I mean that he looks like a pompous self-centred me-me-me type, which reminded me (don't know why) of that other Labour industry favourite, Alan Sugar.

[Yogi]

On this matter I think it is a good thing that Cameron has outed Digby Jones. He is already unpopular amongst the Labour MPs and his fellow Labour Peers for refusing to join the Labour Party. And now, even Brown will look shifty - is Brown trying to buy Digby Jones?

It is dangerous because Jones and other members of the CBI would love to abolish the Pound and may be embarking on a deal with Brown here - in return to endorsing Brown !!

I also take issue with our members referring to Boris in an insulting tone. Boris Johnson is a very clever and articulate person - who has carefully cultivated an image of a bon viveur. Although I was a bit sceptical about him as our Mayoral candidate, Boris is certainly miles ahead of the other declared lot and head and shoulders above Steve Norris.

I again come back to Archie Norman - he's not a politician - true but neither was Bloomberg before he ran for mayor of NY and won. One other serious person ought to be Jeff Randall of the Daily Telegraph - very sound, very conservative and an excellent communicator.

[David Belchamber]

Very good suggestion, IMO, Yogi at 05.20:

"One other serious person ought to be Jeff Randall of the Daily Telegraph - very sound, very conservative and an excellent communicator.

[Londoner]

Apart from the fact that our opponents would relentlessly quote all the anti-Cameron stuff that he has written over the last year, Jeff Randall is an Essex boy, frequently writes about his life in that fine county. Although no doubt he commutes into London, and may well have started here for all I know, he is not a Londoner. Boris J, despite being MP for Henley, however is.

Boris can no doubt survive a few people insulting him on here, but I do object to both Steve Norris and Michael Portillo laughing off his potential candidacy, implying it is some sort of absurdity. Although I have time for both Steve and Michael, this attitude says more about them than it does about him.

[It's Friday afternoon, loosen up]

This thread must be being very heavily moderated. It's taking hours for posts to come up. Does the editor think Digby has a good lawyer? (I know he is one himself, but that's another matter.)

[TomTom]

I mean that he looks like a pompous self-centred me-me-me type

Agreed. He is a self-promoter with nothing intangible to promote - the day the CBI was run by a lawyer working for an accounting firm - to be followed by a former newspaper editor....it was clear that Industry in Britain was something hidden away in museums - usually the Head of the BDI in Germany would be a corporate industrialist or an Owner-Manager of an exporter.

[Justin Hinchcliffe]

Tony Lit for Mayor? He's attractive, intelligent and has experience in business.