Cameron refuses calls for Mundell to go

David Mundell will receive a very frosty reception when he turns up at the Scottish Conference in Perth according to Angus Macleod in The Times.  The Shadow Scottish Secretary faces grassroots anger for a leaked memo that included damaging criticisms of the Scottish party leadership and described Tory MSPs as "clueless."  One unnamed MSP called for Mr Mundell to be thrown into the Tay and, according to the Daily Record, added: "The Tay is very deep this time of year"!  Although many Tory members, ConservativeHome included, have sympathy for Mr Mundell's critique, they feel it was unwise for the criticisms to be committed to paper and they - and this website - have been underwhelmed by Mr Mundell's own performance.  Many question Mr Cameron's decision to propel a new and inexperienced MP into the testing position of Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland.  As Alan Cochrane writes in today's Telegraph: "Until two years ago [Mundell] was also an MSP at Holyrood and didn't exactly set the heather alight."

ConservativeHome understands that the leadership of Scotland's Tories asked David Cameron to force Mr Mundell to resign but Mr Cameron has resisted those calls.  Instead Mr Cameron heaped praise on Peter Duncan and Annabel Goldie - whilst declining to offer any endorsement to Mr Mundell:

"Annabel Goldie and Peter Duncan are going a great job.  Annabel has a no-nonsense approach and is addressing the issues that really matter in Scotland.  The party in Scotland is in better health now than it has been for many years, and is running an effective campaign."

We are hoping to verify information given to us identifying the source of the leak.  The Daily Record probably paid £5,000 to £10,000 for the memo.

David Mundell can be grateful for the furore associated with the sacking of Patrick Mercer.  Without that event there would have been much more attention focused on his ill-advised memo.  Once the Scottish elections are over there must be serious renewal of the Scottish party - and a semi-independent identity must be a priority reform - but before then every effort must be made to support Annabel Goldie's efforts to maximise the Scottish Tory vote on 3rd May.  She certainly did well at First Minister's Questions yesterday.  Responding to jibes from labnour's First Minister Jack McConnell about the Mundell memo, she replied:

"The difference between the First Minister and me is that the internal memos of my party do not end up in Scotland Yard."

Excellent!

Comments

[thatcherite]

It will be interesting to see whether the Daily Record has further damaging revelations to publish from the leaked memo. Tomorrow's paper may be uncomfortable reading for Scottish Tories.

Mr Mundell may survive until the rumoured reshuffle of the Shadow Cabinet. It is unlikely, given the reaction to his memo, that he can remain in post for much longer. David Cameron will lobbied by MSPs and Party officers in Perth and the message will be that they cannot work with Mundell any longer.

[Al Gunn]

Editor,

Link to the article says, "Cameron refuses calls fro Mundell to go". May want to edit!

Al

[Peter Hatchet]

"Although many Tory members, ConservativeHome included, have sympathy for Mr Mundell's critique, they feel it was unwise for the criticisms to be committed to paper"

No, they don't.

"..have been underwhelmed by Mr Mundell's own performance"

No, not really.

" Many question Mr Cameron's decision to propel a new and inexperienced MP into the testing position of Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland."

No, not really.

Ed - *some* people agreed with you yesterday, but a clear majority did not. Samuel, your deputy Ed, admitted as much last night when he said you had; "taken a hammering" on Conhome for your editoral line.

It is disingenuous in the extreme for you to play with semantics to suggest that it was the majority view on Conhome and amongst the Tory faithfull.

It is *your* view. At least have the honesty to say so and not try and give added weight to your opinion - and influence - in the party by suggesting it's everyone elses too.

I've lost a lot of respect for you over this.

[Editor]

Thanks Al Gunn. Corrected.

[thatcherite]

Bury the Hatchet!

[Editor]

Sorry about that Peter H but I stand by what I wrote. I think membership of the shadow cabinet comes with various duties and responsibilities and, on many fronts, I don't believe that David Mundell has come up to the mark. All I can say is that I hope you'll continue to leave comments disagreeing with me and there's always YourPlatform for you and others to use if you ever want to make an extended case against something that Sam and I have written or to put issues on to the agenda that I may be neglecting.

[Denis Cooper]

Mundell's mistake was to single out the Tory MSPs for criticism. If he'd said the same thing about the MSPs in general then a lot of Scots would have agreed with him. It could even have started a useful debate about how higher calibre people, some of them "thinkers", could be attracted to serve in the Scottish Parliament.

[Deputy Editor]

Peter, I appreciate your considered criticism on all of this. Just on your last point though, when we refer to ConservativeHome's position it is that of the editors rather than the commenters - the views of whom are too varied to attribute a corporate position to.

Many Tory members in Scotland do want Mundell to go, and have done for a while. Whether they constitute a majority, no-one can authoritatively say.

[LordHawHaw]

Well said Peter Hatchet - you speak for more Tories in Scotland than these guys. No doubt Tim is already composing another editorial calling for Patrick Mercer to be appointed shadow scottish secretary!

[Max]

I agree with what you say to a large degree Peter.

Unfortunately I disagree with the Editors again and fully expect my views to be dismissed as ‘nonsense’ or be accused of using the same computer as Peter and Lord Haw-Haw. Still here goes . . .

Had Mr Mundell been sacked the story would likely have escalated. As it was by half six last night the story was running behind the Rail Strike – which has been handled incredibly badly by the Lib Dem transport minister – and Halifax dropping their bid to host the Commonwealth games. The story didn’t even warrant a mention on Newsnight Scotland. I suspect this would not have been the case had DM been sacked.

Given that the BBC Scotland editions of the news didn’t carry anything on the Patrick Mercer resignation I’m not entirely sure what David Mundell has to be grateful for. Where would the extra attention have come from? It’s not as if the London media would have taken any interest in this story.

I’m obviously more sympathetic than most to David Mundell as I’m a member of the DCT Tories and am rather glad that the area I live in has a Tory MP for the first time in around 40 or 50 years.

I am grateful however that you have highlighted Annabel Goldie's excellent comeback. In the last few months she has been performing increasingly well in the parliament and in public and I think she will be quite an asset as she attrects more attention during the election campaign. A lot will rest on her in the course of the next couple of months.

[Ted]

Max

Agree with what you say but as a distant southerner myself would be interested for your views on what can be done to address what seem to be serious splits in the Scots Party. Has echoes of the late 90's with various factions unable to work together.

Goldie does seem to have improved but there appears to be a coterie of disenchanted ready to put personal agenda before electoral unity. Perhaps its the result of becoming the third or fourth party but the behaviour seems more like the ructions in UKIP than a serious party.

[Scotty]

I would just like to say that I agree with the views expressed by both Peter and Max.
For me the most depressing thing about this whole incident is my own lack of surprise that something damaging was leaked to the Scottish media on the eve of our conference.

[Scotty]

"Goldie does seem to have improved but there appears to be a coterie of disenchanted ready to put personal agenda before electoral unity."

Ted, when you put your personal agenda first it does not allow for the kind of team work needed to present electoral unity.
It is also a very unedifying spectacle to watch being played out in the already hostile media up here.