Other than Owen Paterson, which Tory politician do you think is under-rated?

By Tim Montgomerie
Follow Tim on Twitter.

I don't agree with much of Peter Oborne's column in today's Telegraph. I think he greatly exaggerates how much politics will change in what he calls the post-Murdoch age. For reasons I've argued before, 'Murdochshire Central' is here to stay.

Nonetheless I completely agree with his verdict on the Northern Ireland Secretary Owen Paterson:

"Paterson possesses pretty well all the virtues any well-arranged society would look for in a Cabinet minister. He is hard-working, utterly conscientious and morally brave. Never afraid to speak his mind, he has quietly effected important changes in Northern Ireland’s political structures. Yet Paterson’s career has suffered from one crucial defect. There have been no press releases trumpeting illusory achievements. He does not leak announcements to a grateful media, publishing them instead, as propriety demands, in Parliament."

I, too, am a big fan of Owen Paterson. I should declare an interest. Owen was IDS' PPS when I, too, worked for Iain. Peter gets Owen's qualities exactly right. He's brave, honest and incredibly hardworking. Whether it was his networking across Europe ten years ago to build allies for a post-EPP grouping (all for which he was unpaid I should stress), his diligent work to prepare an alternative to the Common Fisheries Policy when he was an agriculture spokesman or his work on roads as a member of the transport team, he's not afraid of putting in the hours. A man of the Right he's also handsome - a not important quality in electoral politics!

Please use the thread below to suggest other names that are deserving of a better press.

PS It's not too late to sponsor Owen and his wife Rose who are about to ride in the Mongel Derby, the world's longest horse race.