THE FACT that there has – as yet – been no news about Oliver Letwin’s role in Britain’s new Government is, in itself, starting to become newsworthy.
He’s been an MP for 13 years, he was Shadow Home Secretary and Shadow Chancellor, he was David Cameron’s first backer in his bid to become Conservative Party leader, he was one of the architects of the 2010 Conservative manifesto, he was one of the Tories’ main negotiators with the Liberal Democrats after the election, and we know that he was hoping to get a Cabinet post.
Yet so far, nothing.
Is it because he did write the manifesto? Has he been sacrificed to the right-wing of the Conservative Party?
Look at this from Peter Hitchens on MailOnline today to see what diehard Conservatives think of him.
- Those who still delude themselves that the leadership of the Tory Party contains any serious conservative elements should have noticed the giggling, beaming face of Oliver Letwin looming about the place during the negotiations which produced this, the first Liberal government of my lifetime.
- His presence was the key.
- Mr Letwin is simply not a conservative on any important issue, and is refreshingly frank about this, which is why he is not normally allowed out in public. But of course his frank liberalism was extremely useful during these talks.
Mr Hitchens thinks that true Conservatives should split and breakaway.
In the meantime, should West Dorset be starting a flash-campaign to get Dr Letwin a Cabinet seat? William Hague and George Osborne got their rewards soon enough.
Yeovil is represented by David Laws. Is West Dorset going to have to look to him as the top local politician, now that Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are supposed to be friendly?
Embarrassing absence
Oliver Letwin has a formidable intellect and is an excellent local MP… his absence from today’s appointments is embarrassingly obvious…
For a Tory, I have a lot of respect for him
Olly is certainly no intellectual lightwieght and probably more flexible and open-minded to alternative ideas than most Tories (although Poll Tax was one of his flaws) and is only a ‘conservative’ based on class and up-bringing.
While I still can’t see this Ant & Dec-led Coalition getting past the honey-moon period ’some’ of the proposals are genuinely welcome such as scrapping ID cards, signing up to 10:10, and no 3rd runway at Heathrow (or anywhere else). Other stuff like a cap on non-EU (i.e. non-white) immigration, more nuclear power and massive cuts are frankly frightening.
The Big Society idea was supposed to come from him and while I agree with more support for community-led services (well of course I would!) he probably took it too far suggesting that we could be able to replace services the state should provide.
As for being ‘left out’ I don’t think he minds the lower-profile position of head of Policy because it would affect his ability to provide his time, as Angela Taylor rightly says, as ‘an excellent local MP’, something his LIDL Dem opponent (are they friends now?) falsely rubbished in the election. I’ve never voted for him but, for a Tory, I have a lot of respect for him and certainly, as this site has noted and whether I like it or not, our new political scenario owes a great deal to him.
Let him have a few days off.