Pickles and Clarke marked down by Tory members

Pasted below are the shadow cabinet ratings for March 2009.  A few observations:

• Michael Gove is now number two in the league table; his highest placing.
• Eric Pickles has taken a hit for his Question Time performance.
• Ken Clarke has taken a smaller hit for his loose remarks on IHT.
• George Osborne continues his climb back after Yachtgate.
• Caroline Spelman moves up sharply following her close-to-clean-bill-of-health on nannygate.
• Caroline's place at the bottom of the league table is taken by Sayeeda Warsi.
  

FULL SHADOW CABINET RATINGS
Satisfied minus dissatisfied for September, November and December 2008 + February and March 2009 (latest numbers on right):

1. William Hague +82% | +85% | +73% | +72% | +76%
2. Michael Gove +60% | +62% | +67% | +66% | +70%
3. Chris Grayling +69% | +70% | +74% | +71% | +69%
   
4. Dominic Grieve +51% | +63% | +69% | +63% | +65%
   
5. Liam Fox +52% | +46% | +44% | +48% | +54%
6. Lord Strathclyde +50% | +52% | +55% | +52% | +54%
   
7. Alan Duncan +55% | +55% | +57% | +49% | +50%
8. Eric Pickles +75% | +71% | +75% | +70% | +50%
9. Philip Hammond +45% | +46% | +43% | +45% | +49%
   
10. Pauline Neville-Jones +43% | +44% | +43% | +44% | +47%
    
11. Andrew Lansley +45% | +43% | +42% | +39% | +44%
12. Ken Clarke N/A | N/A | N/A | +57% | +43%
13. George Osborne +70% | +2% | +30% | +34% | +43%
    
14. Jeremy Hunt +33% | +39% | +36% | +33% | +37%
15. Grant Shapps N/A | N/A | N/A | +25% | +36%
16. Nick Herbert +44% | +45% | +42% | +32% | +33%
17. Patrick McLoughlin +33% | +26% | +28% | +26% | +30%
18. David Willetts +21% | +27% | +28% | +20% | +30%
19. Owen Paterson +23% | +24% | +29% | +24% | +28%
20. Greg Clark N/A | +23% | +15% | +18% | +24%
21. Mark Francois N/A | N/A | N/A | +8% | +21%
22. Oliver Letwin +26% | +27% | +20% | +18% | +20%
    
23. Andrew Mitchell +19% | +18% | +15% | +16% | +20%
24. Theresa Villers +4% | +19% | +17% | +19% | +20%
25. Cheryl Gillan +10% | +12% | +8% | +7% | +14%
    
26. Caroline Spelman -8% | -5% | -10% | -1% | +13%
27. Theresa May +5% | +3% | +7% | +2% | +12%
28. Francis Maude +17% | +11% | +10% | +6% | +11%
29. David Mundell +2% | +3% | +4% | +0% | +7%
30. Sayeeda Warsi +11% | +16% | +10% | +8% | +6%

1,482 members voted from 30th March to 1st April.

Comments

[DCMX]

Sayeeda Warsi is the most over promoted individual in recent Conservative history.

[Jack Stone]

INACCURATE COMMENT OVERWRITTEN.

[Malcolm Dunn]

Not sure why Sayeeda Warsi has done so badly. She gave a storming performance on QT recently, far better than most of our other speakers on that programme.
No idea why you think she's been overpromoted DCMX, I think she's been a credit to our party since her promotion.

[Steve Foley]

Sayeeda Warsi is the most over promoted individual in recent Conservative history.

=============================================

Indeed so and one seldom hears of her on the media. Apart from those interested in politics, does anyone actually know of her existence?

[ToryBlog.com - Time for bankers to fight back against the green-eyed losers in this country]

If I were Draper, I'd see Pickles as a gift. I can imagine PiggyPickles.com now, with a porcine Pickles slurping from the trough in a Looney Tunes 'That's All Folks' stylee.

Unfair I know, but this man is going to cost you votes if the opposition play it right.

(Let's see how many minutes until that domain is registered!)

[Iain]

Why does Sayeeda Warsi get such a low rating, after all she was the only one to hold her own on Question Time? On her performance on QT I would have her in the top ten. What has Spelman done to go up in the ratings?

In truth I don't really understand these ratings, what has William Hague done of note recently, or Michael Gove, or Chris Grayling? Ever sine David Davis has left the Shadow Home secretary position that department has lost direction.

[Bob Crozier]

I think Sayeeda Warsi speaks a lot of sense when commenting on the way the Muslim community should be addressed. I am surprised at her ranking. Her main point that they should be treated just like the rest of the British Public is quite right. My MP speaks for me in this democracy not my church minister, and neither should we pretend that religious leaders speak for British people who happen to be Muslim.

[Freddy]

Sayeeda Warsi is a very good speaker, and is extremely loyal to DC.

I think that she is underpromoted, not overpromoted.

[Adam]

Won't be too long before Gove is number one. he is doing a fantastic job re the schools program and is the only radical policy we will introduce when we take power. all the other policcy proposals are regurgitated new labour waffle.

As far as Warsi is concerned, she should get her head down and work hard at her brief (like Dame PN-Jones) instead of giving self promoting media interviews only!

[DCMX]

Let's just say what we all know to be 100pc true: Ms Warsi is there because of the colour of her skin. Her below-par performance doesn't change that. Cameron wanted a Muslim woman in his top team. As long as she is not too embarrassing he will keep her there.

[Conand]

@Freddy I agree.

Sayeeda was absolutely GREAT on QT! Her passionate and informed remarks about the Muslim Council of Britain were quickly vindicated. Keith Vaz has stopped talking to them because some of them are too extreme.

I gave her maximum points. If QT is going to be the benchmark, she passed with flying colours.

[The Rifle]

I did 2 weeks campaigning in the Ealing Southall by-election.

We were doing a walk-about for an hour with the candidate, Tony Lit. There was loads of press, which Tony did his best with but was struggling.

Warsi turned up and just knocked the reporters sideways. She was confident, incredibly knowledgeable and spoke a lot of sense. The press loved her.

I don't find her very likeable but there's no doubting she is very talented.

[Iain]

"Ms Warsi is there because of the colour of her skin. Her below-par performance doesn't change that"

I am sorry that is rubbish, I can't say why she has the position she commands, but every time I see her speak, such as on QT, she makes a bloody good argument for the Conservative position, far, far better than any of the rest, for while the rest might prattle on how wonderful multiculturalism is and peddle the cultural Marxist clap trap, Sayeeda Warsi confronts it full on and demands people see her for the Conservative values she believes in, not to put her in some ethnic cultural ghetto.

[RichardJ]

I'm surprised at how well Grayling did after his mealy-mouthed reaction to the Geert Wilders ban.

[Conand]

DCMX@11:19 : 'As long as she is not too embarrassing he will keep her there.'

She hasn't had embarrassing bouts of foot-in-mouth disease like EP/KC. Don't get me wrong; I've met them both and they're great. But C'mon!

[Cleethorpes Rock]

I'm disappointed Sayeeda Warsi came bottom. I too marked her up as she was brilliant on QT and would get far more recognition if she were used more. (I have marked her very low in previous surveys)

I can only think she's so low due to ignorance or annoyance at her quick promotion.

I'm sure that the more people see of her, the more they will like what she has to say and how she says it.

[Conand]

Incidentaly, I don't agree with David Mundell's place either. I listened to the ToryRadio interview with him. Very impressive. His head is very much screwed on the right way. More politicians like him please!

[resident leftie]

Just out of interest, are there any surveys which reflect the electorates' attitudes to, or even knowledge of the shadow cabinet?

[Statistics Man]

The really interesting thing to know would be the "Don't Know" results, or whether the survey has a box for "I've Never Heard Of Them".

These scores are just x% satisfied minus y% dissatisfied, right?

So if 5% have heard of someone and think they are OK, and 95% aren't aware of their existence that would mean this person wasn't doing their job but they still get a +5% score, when really their performance should be -90% because no one has ever heard of them.

What you should report is x% satisfied minus y% dissatisfied minus z% don't know.

[Conand]

There was a poll very recently that put all the bigtime Shad Cab ahead of their Labour counterparts.

[Charlie B]

God, I do hope the Tories win the next election. With this crowd of w**kers in government, the satirists and impressionists will have a field day. I'm in need of a good laugh - Spitting Image might even be revived. Wonderful.

[David Belchamber]

I agree with all the others who complimented Sayeeda Warsi on her QT performance; she was very articulate, positive and incisive. Much better than most of our recent performers.

[Hawkeye]

Warsi is good. Simple as that.

[George Lees]

Unsuprising Pickles is down and Maude remains flatlining. Suprising Spelperson is up. New boy Francois has started rising - wonder where he will plateau - quite high I imagine as the Euro campaign will give him a higher profile?

[NigelJ]

Pickles performance on QT was quite dreadful. DCMX accuses the party of tokenism with respect to Warsi (whom I think is pretty good and is there by merit), but I think the real tokenism is "blokey northener" Pickles. I just hope he was having an off day, because if this is him at his best then we have definately over promoted him.

[Jack Stone]

COMPLETELY NEGATIVE COMMENT OVERWRITTEN.

[Shaun Bennett]

Warsi is indeed over promoted beyond her talents.

Why does she always score so poorly on these surveys? Because most of the membership actually don't like what she says.

At first, I couldn't tell whether she was a Tory spokesman or a Labour spokesman. Its people like Warsi that the party can do without. She simply blurs any distinctive message that we have and makes the party look stale...so I can see why Cameron promoted her.

[HYUFD]

Sayeeda Warsi speaks a lot of common sense and certainly has a higher profile at the moment through Question Time etc than a large proportion of shadow cabinet members on that list. Indeed, her ratings have generally been pretty positive recently and remain in positive territory after a difficult start, it just seems some other shadow cabinet members have seen an increase in their rating this time, although not for any clear reason I can see.

[councilhousetory]

Re: Warsi

I can tell you one group who know a lot about her: the Guardianista Multi-culti fundamentalists. They hate her, so she's alright in my book.

[Will Mulville]

Conservative Home Members Panel. Who are they?

[nigel syson]

Warsi did far better than Pickles on question time. His view that he needed a second house because he lived 37 miles away from work and had to turn up on time was laughable. I spent six and a half years driving 45 miles into Birmingham. I managed to turn up with time to spare. In the private sector we sack people who cannot get to work on time !

[Julian Ware-Lane]

Only six women in that list, five in the bottom seven.

[Louis Ward]

Why is Question Time the measure of shadow ministers?

Surely we should be measuring them by how competent they are at their job, what kind of policies are they putting forward and what they are doing to help the Conservatives win the next election?

To my knowledge Ms Warsi is no more competent than any one else at her job, has put forward no discernable policy proposals and is practically unheard of in terms of the electorate so is not greatly helping the Conservative Party.

She has the rating she deserves, not negative since she is not bad at her job, but a small positive rating.

[Marian]

"Only six women in that list, five in the bottom seven." May be there is more than simple prejudice going on. Labour have done better at getting women into parliament but had to resort to women only lists to do it. How many of those women Mp's have really made a mark? Could it be that fewer women are passionate about politics, and even fewer are skilled in the art of rhetoric. Of course there have been exceptions, Margaret Thatcher being the chief among these. I am not against women being MPs but they must be as good as the men they replace. In far to many cases it seems that Labours women MPs are only there to fill the quota. I wonder how many members of the public could name five women MPs from the conservative party?
I know I would struggle beyond that number.
This is of course something of a thorny issue. I may be old fashioned , but I believe that our MP's should be of the highest standard, not jumped up the list because of their sex.

[Cleethorpes Rock]

Louis Ward, QT isn't a measure of shadow ministers, but how well they perform in the media IS.

A good media performance can help the party win votes, so Sayeeda Warsi is doing her job just as well, if not better than someone who makes an arse of himself on TV by defending the indefensible, a la "37 miles" Pickles.

[resident leftie]

Posted by: Marian | April 03, 2009 at 14:05

I wonder how many members of the public could name five women MPs from the conservative party?

Well, you only have seventeen, and with attitudes such as yours, I'm surprised it's not lower.

[Jack Stone]

So negative comments are not allowed. Does this mean if David Cameron decides it may be good policy to announce that should elected he will immediantly bomb Russia we are not allowed to post negative comments on it. I`m afraid if you only allow positive comments you are going to have very few posts left.

[Tim Montgomerie]

I'll leave Jack Stone's comment up as an illustration of his silliness.

[Conand]

@ Tim Montgomerie

Fascinating as the 'Tory Premier League Table' is, where are the results of the questions about MP's allowances, pay etc?

I'm really interested to see those results ASAP.

[Tim Montgomerie]

@Conand,

They'll be published over the weekend. One of the results is a big no, no to one of my ideas :-)

[Conand]

@ Tim Montgomerie

Ohhhh OK ;)

[HF]

I agree that Warsi's result is far too low.

I did mark Eric down but he will be back. He tried to play a straight bat when the others were throwing grenades.

Spellman, Willets and Letwin should be shown the door.

[Anti-libertarian]

Well I have to admit to being thoroughly unimpressed by both Warsi and Pickles on Question Time. Warsi for spouting the populist anti-Bush, anti-war nonsense, Pickles for a dreadful defence of the second homes issue. Question Time performance is not everything, but it certainly stuck in the mind when filling in that questionnaire. Would much prefer a Gove/Fox 'administration' to a Cameron/Osborne one. One can but dream...

[James Maskell]

Ive been unimpressed by the vast number of quiet Shadow Ministers. Where on earth are they? This complaint comes up every time but it needs saying again. We are a little over a year away from the General Election and in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Why are so many frontbench Tories so quiet? Do they wish to become a Government Minister or not?

[Wayne]

Can someone please tell me if they have heard from anybody in the shadow cabinet in the last week. Have they all been locked in Browns Bunker! There is so much to attack at the moment!

[RichardJ]

"Conservative Home Members Panel. Who are they?"

Us!

"Well, you only have seventeen, and with attitudes such as yours, I'm surprised it's not lower."

That women should be promoted based on merit rather than their sex?

[Pls-try-harder]

Saida is annoying.

But she is good. And does something valuable that few other people can do.

Should be room for people like that in that party.

After all, the same sorts of things used to be said of Keith Joseph, Margaret Thatcher, et al.

[Freddy]

Sayeeda Warsi is first rate, and you know it! She will make an excellent minister!

I feel sorry for Pickles - even the most talented debater couldn't have got that audience round!

As for Ken Clarke - well perhaps he hadn't checked out the party position with GO. We all make mistakes - he is getting on a bit now. Front line politics can be very gruelling these days.

[Sally Roberts]

I too was disappointed that Sayeeda Warsi scored so disappointingly and believe she should be used more! When she first "came on the scene" I was not particularly impressed but by and by I realised that despite the fact she is not always "smiley" (and perhaps that is no bad thing), Sayeeda has considerable courage and is not afraid to speak out. Let's not forget that this is a Muslim woman who has succeeded on her own terms in a Western world and has stood up to the fundamentalists from her own community. The moment she particularly went up in my estimation was when she flew to Sudan with Lord Ahmed to help negotiate in the "Teddy Bear" affair, but I was also impressed when I heard her speak at a womens lunch up in Yorkshire at the end of last year. She is clearly very much loved in that neck of the woods.

[Freddy]

@Wayne

Try to be positive in politics - the voters don't like politicians who are always moaning. They seem to think of that type as Victor Meldrews.

Better to select the best political target and go for that. Better still take up a cause that the popular press is campaigning on. Be constructive and, whatever you do, don't rant or you will put off the punters.

Don't appear on t.v. too much or people will get sick of you, just as they're getting sick of Brown!

My hunch is that that is what the front bench are doing.

[Lucy Hunter]

Freddy. So invisibility is the best policy!

[YourNameHere]

I wasn't sure about Sayeeda Warsi's appointment at the start, but having seen her on TV recently, I've been very impressed. I'm glad we have her. We need more gobby, northern, clever woman.

[YMT]

Didn't manage to get round to taking this one but I'm also surprised by Sayeeda Warsi low mark? hmmmmm

[Freddy]

@Lucy Hunter

No. But too much exposure is bad.

Let Brown's G20 rubbish calm down a bit before getting the rebuttal in.

Like his budgets the devil is in the detail

[Freddy]

@Lucy Hunter

I see that DC has been talking to some of the G20 heads of government here for the summit - so that's what he's been up to!

[Annabel Herriott]

Well I gave Sayeeda top marks, because that is what she merits. She is a no nonsense Yorkshire woman, born and bred in Dewsbury, and she simply tells it like it is. She has great debating skills, her day job is a hard working lawyer dealing in criminal matters, so she has a good nose for anything dodgy. I suspect she did the majority of the work in getting Margaret was it? freed and back home.
DC was absolutely correct to appoint her to the front bench/house of Lords.

[Jarod]

Alot of people seem to be raving about Sayeeda Warsi's performance on QT. What was pretty obvious to me is that she was shouting down Charles Moore who was making the very same point(about the Muslim Council of Britain and other such self-proclaimed orginisations) that she was. I, for one think her heart is in the right place, unfortunately I don't think she's very bright. But as for her being bottom of the table, that surprises me. At least she has decent Tory principles. The rest of the shadow wouldn't know a principle if it hit them in the face. Did anyone actually seem Jeremy Hunt or Andrew Mitchell on question time? Do you think that they would dare call Anjem Choudary and his henchmen "nutters". No, they're too busy asking voters to love them, because they're not nasty any more. If Chris Grayling gets third place after the disgraceful Wilders affair then I not only despair of the the current Conservative Party, but I also despair of their supporters too.

[Cleethorpes Rock]

Chris Grayling was a disgraceful, spineless jellyfish over the Geert Wilders affair. For that reason alone, I gave him minimum marks.

It seems like most of the informed membership (ie, the ConHome readership) rate Warsi. Am I out of order to suggest there might be some latent prejudice from the shires that keeps her bottom of the league?

[Alistair Thomas]

It's a pity seeing Clarke take a hit for 'loose' comments on IHT. His comments were the sensible ones. The party has lost my vote for now. IHT change was sensible when it had become a stealth tax on the many due to ridiculous house price inflation.

Please make promises and stick to them while they remain relevant to the many. In the last two weeks, valid political criticism has been weakened because Labour have used IHT to paint the Conservatives like old Tories, only interested in the rich and privileged.

If that weren't bad enough, you miss a golden opportunity to blame the downgrade of promise to aspiration on GBs destruction of wealth and the economy as a whole. Labour have made IHT less relevant.

Second opportunity missed to emphasise aspiration to rebuild wealth (and the economy) to the point where IHT once again becomes a 'problem'.

Muppets - get a grip. As bad as GB is, you can still grab defeat from the jaws of victory if you are seen to serve the few rather than the many. Let Social justice be your compass.

[Conspiracy]

Wasi - low ratings because most peolpe, believe she only got a perage becuse she is a muslin woman.

Low ratings for the woman in genral - because they have low profile roles.

[Super Blue]

"Freddy. So invisibility is the best policy!" - Lucy Hunter.

I wonder if I am the only person who finds this style more than a little familiar?

[Sally Roberts]

I see what you mean, Super Blue, but at least "Lucy" can spell.

[Super Blue]

Sally,

......... and has a less contrived name?

Stephen

[StevenAdams]

@ Cleethorpes – you're certainly out of order to say that it's from the Shires! I'm from Bucks and I rate Warsi.

She's not in the cabinet to intervene on fiscal or environmental issues; she's been recruited because of her expertise in a particular field, and the political credit that she comes with allowing her to talk about it openly (the political credit comes from her charitable and professional not skin colour).

@ DCMX seemed to take it as red that she was promoted because of her skin colour, and assumed we all agree: rubbish. I don't agree and I find it offensive that as soon as a woman (especially a woman from an ethnic minority) is put into the cabinet you assume that it has to be a cynical choice. Why? On what evidence? It is you that makes judgements on skin colour – not DC.

[Rude Tory]

I'm more interested in the impression that floating voters have of our various frontbenchers.

I really couldn't care less what the splenetic old gits of the party's angry right think.

[Ross Warren]

" splenetic old gits of the party's angry right think."

Nice phrase.

Floating Voters are a real problem for all parties. A relatively small number of people are effectively the most important in deciding who will win a seat. In many cases these butterflies of politics are swayed by emotion rather than rational thought. Is it surprising in this age of distrust in politicians in general that the numbers of floating voters has grown? When many of them see the choice between the parties is like a choice between Daz and Omo, with nothing in it for them other than more of the same. Is it surprising that they are not certain who to vote for? We are seeing the start of yet another small Brown bounce. This one is on the coattails of that US President. I notice that William Hague was more than willing to milk Barack Hussein Obama's support, with his claim that the D.C. Like Obama is about change. Dispite the fact that D.C. is a Conservative, and Obama is a screaming Pinko. Is it any wonder the floating voter is confused ? I know I am pissing into the wind but I do believe that if our leaders were a lot more honest and willing to tell the truth rather more often, our support would become more solid and volatility would become less of a factor.