Editorial: Why I’d vote for Liam Fox in today’s ballot

If I had a vote in today’s ballot of Tory MPs I’d be voting for Liam Fox.  I think he deserves to progress to the final stages of this contest although I fear that the list of public declarations suggests that his campaign will, unfortunately, end within a few hours, or on Thursday.

Here are my reasons for endorsing Dr Fox today:

Liam is an authentic Conservative.  He believes in lower taxation but knows that tax relief can only be part of a wider ‘prosperity agenda’.  He takes an uncompromising approach to crime and drugs.  He is a principled Eurosceptic and has confirmed this Euroscepticism with a commitment to disentangle Tory MEPs from the Old Europeanism of the EPP.  A party led by Liam would be built on the rock of these core Conservative commitments but it wouldn’t stop there.

Liam understands that the core beliefs, described above, and which have characterised conservatism since the Thatcher years, are not enough.  Both Liam and David Cameron have embraced the And Theory Of Conservatism and its belief in a more compassionate politics.  Liam’s idea of mending the ‘broken society’ was unfairly characterised as gloomy by yesterday’s FT.  But for many people - who can’t afford to read Companies & Markets - life is pretty grim.  Ignoring the real problems in British society may be an option for a newspaper that caters to a dwindling number of metropolitan readers but it cannot be an option for a political party that aspires to govern for the whole nation.  Liam’s heart for the socially excluded – particularly for victims of domestic violence and the mentally unwell – could drive the socially just conservatism that could transform the electoral prospects of our party.

Liam is a hawk in the war on terror.  The world has always been full of evil men but, as Peggy Noonan wrote some time before 9/11, it is gravely dangerous today because of the relative ease with which those men can get hold of portable weaponry of devastating power.  Dr Fox understands this risk and the need to pre-empt the danger that rogue regimes – like Saddam’s Iraq - will feed international networks of terror.  He has stood firm on Iraq throughout his brief time as Shadow Foreign Secretary and he could rebuild the Conservative Party’s relationship with the White House that became so sour during Michael Howard’s leadership.  I hope he would use that renewed relationship to combine the USA’s commitment to technology-driven environmentalism with the sense of urgency that Europeans bring to this vital issue.

Liam believes in party democracy.  He was late in declaring his opposition to the planned disenfranchisement of party members – perhaps out of loyalty to his friend Michael Howard – but he eventually came out in favour of an electoral college.  An electoral college falls well short of the open primary, mass connections system of party democracy promoted by Theresa May (and latterly by Francis Maude) but it is better than that offered by his rivals for the Tory crown.  David Davis supports a role for members in the first round(s) of voting but believes that MPs, and MPs only, should make the final decision.  David Cameron hasn’t declared his view.  Ken Clarke’s leading backers first called for the rollback of party democracy and then fell silent when they realised that their man had little chance of prospering amongst Tory MPs.

Liam is pro-life.  An in pro-life I’m not just meaning he opposes abortion and euthanasia.  I mean his commitment to defend the right to life and liberty of everyone.   For Dr Fox a pro-life philosophy includes better care for the mentally ill but also those people in faraway lands whose human rights are abused.  Right-to-die campaigns are gathering pace in Britain and Dr Fox, whilst upholding freedom of conscience on these issues for the parliamentary party, could help public opinion to see how a right-to-die easily becomes a duty-to-die.  Liam’s willingness to raise the issues of abortion and human rights has a wider significance to me.  I doubt focus groups advised him to talk about reducing the number of abortions (nearly 200,000 in Britain last year).  The fact that he still did shows he has the courage and authenticity that British politics needs after the spin’n’squander of the Blair years.

The online poll run by conservativehome suggests that I’m in disagreement with 82% of my readers.  All I can promise is that I’ll keep my opinions to the Editorials and Good Week, Bad Week features and will attempt to keep the news postings as free of bias as humanly possible.  There are, of course, concerns as to whether Liam Fox is experienced and substantial enough to be Tory leader.  I have sympathy with those concerns but they apply to David Davis and David Cameron, too.  Ken Clarke is undoubtedly up to the job but I struggle with his record on Europe and his opposition to the liberation of Iraq.

Comments

[Sean Fear]

Yes, it does look as though Liam is out.

[Max]

What the heck has happened to justify the latest betting market? Has someone got hold of the results?

[Chris]

There are 4 years to go to develop the policy details.
Is it too much to hope for that this time around the competing tribes can pull together?
For 4 whole years? I must be dreaming...

On the drugs thing we know that "tough" on drugs doesn't work, so the only option is to legalise and spend the (enormous) savings on education/rehab etc.

Sorry about Leah Betts, but I don't see what her Dad's views have to do with anything.

Let BAT organise the distribution!

[paul d s]

Michael Spicer has been on to his bookie...

[Barry Graham]

I respect the editor a lot for his even-handedness in the campaign and for his running of this excellent site - but I have to agree with Wasp. Fox may be full of integrity but to back him still sends out the message that it's the voters, not our party, who have to come to their senses.
Another right-wing leader (I'll be castigated for describing him thus, but every strand of media opinion labels him thus and his backing from Cornerstone just confirms it), will spell another electoral disaster.
Does the most fervent Fox supporter (step forward Mr Hellyer) really believe in his heart of hearts that Fox can win a Gen Elec, or is he merely the figure whose vision most closely resembles your one?
I think if you're honest, you know he can't win, barring a monumental Labour cock-up
We have to change, not wait for Labour to mess up. Therefore, it has to be Cameron.

[James Hellyer]

Another right-wing leader (I'll be castigated for describing him thus, but every strand of media opinion labels him thus and his backing from Cornerstone just confirms it), will spell another electoral disaster.

Firstly, Cornerstone members have supported every candidate other than Ken Clarke. By your reckoning the party must be doomed as they all therefore represent lurches to the right...

Secondly, it's not being right wing that lost the last two elections (I'm still waiting for someone to tell me how our big spending skoolsnhospitals programme from '05 was right wing). What lost the electiosn was bad and inconsistent strategies, and fighting the election on issues that were tangential to the electorate.

Does the most fervent Fox supporter (step forward Mr Hellyer) really believe in his heart of hearts that Fox can win a Gen Elec

Yes, so stop trying to say what other people think - there's a good chap.

[wasp]

I think, remind me if I'm wrong, but Cameron was at university when the arguments about joining the ERM where doing the rounds.

The hillarious thing about Fox is that he proposed a conservative foreign policy that avoided the myopia with the EU but then keeps going on about the EU at every opportunity.

[James Hellyer]

I, think, remind me if I'm wrong, but Cameron was at university when the arguments about joining the ERM where doing the rounds.

After Black Wednesday, while working for Norman Lamont, David Cameron wrote a memo arguing that Britain should re-enter the ERM.

[carol42]

I don't get all this stuff about great leadership qualities being obvious before the event. Did anyone see what Margaret Thatcher would become when she became leader of the opposition? I certainly didn't. It is impossible to tell before they actually are in power. Tony Blair was a wonderful speaker and can still surprise me with some of his speeches at the time. Yet what has he actually achieved that will stand the test of time. Much of what he is trying to do now is just going back to what he stopped when he got in ie grant maintained schools and foundation hospitals, Tory policies lumbered with targets. Margaret Thatcher was not a good speaker until well in her premiership and Davis or Fox may well be the same. Who knows what Cameron will be like, I think he could be good but it is just too early to tell and would be a terrible gamble. I just hope whoever it is the rest get behind him and don't do what they did to IDS because they didn't want him and he failed to grow in office. My great fear is that Cameron will be destroyed by Blair, Brown and their media friends and then what do we do? I think Davis or Fox would have more authority.

[henry curteis]

KC and DD are on the way down. LF and DC are on the way up. If that logic prevails the run-off will be between LF and DC.

Over a period of nearly 7 weeks, the content-rich programme of LF will prevail over the image-blank DC. Conservative members care about policy, and they are the ones who will decide the winner,not Rupert Murdoch and the Labour-friendly media.

[James Maskell]

Rumours of a tie for 3rd according to the BBC! There has been a delay in the announcement of the vote. It may well be nothing but Nick Robinson has said that it could be that there is a tie and that the re-run will have to be on Thursday. Taken me by suprize.

[David G]

Just in case no one has posted the results of the MPs' ballot:

David Cameron 56

Kenneth Clarke 38 Eliminated

David Davis 62

Liam Fox 42

[James Maskell]

The rumours were wrong. Kenneth Clarke out by 4 votes.

[Daniel Vince-Archer]

Ouch!!!

[Richard Allen]

That's an adequate result for Davis but a very good result for both Cameron and Fox.

[James Maskell]

Andrew Lansley disappointed. Davis down slightly on declared support. DC has a very good round. Congrats to Liam Fox.

[James Hellyer]

Davis got less than his delcared 66 votes. Doctor Fox will now be after his backers...

[Daniel Vince-Archer]

Andrew Lansley just pointedly refused to back David Cameron.

[James Maskell]

Hes just found out his favourite just got beaten. 30 seconds after the result he was asked what he would do. I wouldnt be very happy either.

[Nicholas]

I think Lansley said his members wanted to see Clarke and Cameron in the final. Now Clarke isn't an option, I took his comments to mean he would back Cameron.

[Mark Fulford]

You like to make an issue of Cameron's involvement in Black Wednesday. At the time, Cameron was 25 and fresh from college. He was full of ideas, many of which were good, some of which were bad, all of which are now public. Norman Lamont's role was to sift the one from the other.

There's all sorts of youthful talent on this list. By your standards, if they put a foot wrong in this public forum it should still haunt them in 13 years...

[kris]

An excellent result, now hopefully Davis' supporters will continue to haemorrhage and support Fox, and we'll end up with a nice Cameron V Fox final round, and a Cameron/Fox alliance. Just what i want.

[Mark]

Well it's goodbye Tories, and hello LibDems for me!

[James Maskell]

Really the Lib Dems? Are you really sure? Even if I left the Conservatives I wouldnt even consider the Lib Dems.

[Daniel Vince-Archer]

Davis has just hinted that some of his supporters voted tactically. But in a nice touch, he has commisserated with Ken - will Cameron do the same or crow about getting through?