Sky TV's judging panel gave DD's speech the lowest rating of the contenders so far. Negative emails and texts have poured into BBC's Daily Politics programme. Iain Duncan Smith - commenting on the speech - described it as a little boring.
The delivery was certainly wooden. His face hardly moved as he spoke and the passages on a conservatism for the weakest members of society failed to convince. Tributes to the sporting excellence of non-white Britons also appeared slightly patronising. I watched with other representatives in the Hilton Hotel. One nearly choked on his coffee when DD urged the party to adopt Ronald Reagan's eleventh commandment: 'Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow conservative'. Was this the same DD whose allies regularly besmirch other Tories?
For core conservatives, however, the speech offered a great deal of reassurance. He said that immigrants must subscribe to British values and speak English. He condemned the failure of Labour's electronic tagging scheme and urged greater use of imprisonment. He attacked Labour's policy on cannabis and lax licensing laws. He promised to support stronger family life. He promised vigilance against the constant drive of the Brussels bureaucracy towards 'ever closer union'.
Many commentators will over-interpret this performance and decide DD's leadership bid is in trouble. If the leadership was decided solely on the basis of oratory DD would lose to Cameron, Clarke and Rifkind (given their performances over the last 48 hours) but policy substance and TV performance matter at least as much. DD has had a bad week but this race is a marathon; not a sprint.
'Integrity for unity'?!! David Davis?! Is this the same man that sabotaged IDS's leadership (not that I have a problem with that)?. He may have many qualities but sacrificing integrity for unity is not, I would humbly suggest, one of them. When Ronald says 'Here's hoping' I must propse that, to his disappointment, an incredible amount of hoping is now required for Davis to win. In addition, if offering support to a long-time friend who happens to be gay is what it takes to be a modern conservative, then I think we need need a thoroughly post-modern conservative as our leader!! (In no way am I a post-modernist, but you get the picture) I'm sorry DD, but I started the week as one of your supporters, and now I'm afraid there's only one David for me. He happens to be a rather posh boy.
Posted by: Henry Cook | 06 October 2005 at 02:41
Ive just finishecd watching the DD speech. I am quite disappointed. The tone was right wing. I cant see the softer side of him. The only real mention was by his upbringing, which doesnt explain what he would do as leader.
He also sounds much like Kilroy and when he tried his big ending I didnt feel anything at all. It was much like a chore. He cant put passion in his speeches. His body language looked forced. The only serious statements of intent were right wing. The HRA, EU, crime, immigration...all safe issues for Conservatives. Does he have the courage to go for all issues?
Posted by: James Maskell | 06 October 2005 at 11:09
Ian Duncan Smiths speech at the 2003 Party Conference was more passionate, more convincing and more intelligent than all this weeks speeches put together.
“The majority of Conservatives had left Blackpool very pleased with the party's progress. After being 20% behind two years ago they were now nudging a 5% lead.
The policy stall was being laid out most convincingly, and Duncan Smith's Conference speech had caused many members of the public to start taking notice of him. 48% said they trusted him against Blair's 36%.
There were, however a few MPs like Maude who had never accepted that Duncan Smith had won the leadership, let alone accept that he be permitted to become Prime Minister. Media reports often made out that Duncan Smith had only won because of Party Membership backing him against Clarke over Europe. What they seemed to forget was that he had also beaten Portillo in the Parliamentary round, were it only narrowly.
Football players accept that a narrow victory is still a victory, but the Portillo faction doesn't see things that way. Portillo was, according to Amanda Platell openly disloyal to William Hague during the General Election campaign of 2001. He had been disloyal to John Major prior to that, and he has been openly disloyal to Iain Duncan Smith continuously for the two years of his leadership taking a key role in his downfall.”
Campaign for Conservative Democracy
Posted by: Sally Rideout Baker | 06 October 2005 at 22:35
Good points about Portillo, Sally. The Conservatives are much better off without that poisonous, egotistical, treacherous toad in Parliament, not least because it made room for the much more respectable (and respectful) and decent Rifkind to return to the Commons.
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