I have lost any patience with party politics, and I think the British right is a complete write-off. Even if it can win an election, it doesn’t get us anywhere. It will be defeated by its own incompetence and lack of preparation. They don’t understand the nature of the problems thus will get nowhere near solutions. As far as the most pressing concern goes, immigration, I think we have to take to the streets to make our feelings known. I have more faith in “far right thugs” than any politician.
Still, though, I am occasionally reminded that there are still some people seriously engaged in politics. They just don’t go anywhere near the right wing parties. I have a good relationship with two or three SDP people, all of whom are impressive people in their own right.
For me, the SDP is a bit too lefty. They claim to be neither left wing or right wing, but in my view, if you are left wing on housing then you are left wing party. It’s not more complicated than that.
All the same, I was pretty devastated to see the departure of William Clouston as leader. I’ve met him at least a couple of times and was suitably impressed. He speaks with a coherence and sincerity, which is largely absent from our politics.
I had serious doubts as to whether the SDP could find anyone even half as good as Clouston. As readers will know, one of the key tests of any party is the whether it can withstand the departure of its own leader - and that test is also the test of leadership quality. Certainly, both Restore and Reform will struggle without their figureheads - because they are personality cults.
But then the SDP does tend to attract high calibre people, and I am pleased to see someone in the ranks is capable of stepping up to the plate. Eleanor Rofe is the clear frontrunner - and a welcome change of gear for the party.
While Clouston was/is good at presenting the philosophy and the arguments, Eleanor evidently has a realistic plan, and the industry experience to put it into action. It’s the same brand of quiet competence I’ve come to expect.
I’m not an SDP member, but if I was, I would vote for Rofe. It’s not good enough for a leader just to make compelling arguments and trot out snappy slogans. For sure, that works towards raising the profile of the party and the likeability of the leader, but you also need to do all the behind the scenes work that often gets neglected. That’s why Restore Britain is the mess it is. Nobody is taking care of the details - and it really shows.
Rofe recognises that building a party is contingent on building a solid organisation, and has a business record of doing exactly that. She has an actual plan. Unlike the other parties, the SDP does have an intellectual foundation, and a reasonable outline of basic policies. That’s been a process of continuous development under Clouston and that process must continue.
But a party is more than just a stack of policy papers. Politics is as much about people. You need a team of credible people. People you can look at and envisage as a cabinet - capable of running a competent government.
That’s what we don’t get from the slopulist parties - neither of which have developed any talent of their own. They promised us serious candidates but seem to actively repel them. It is to Clouston’s enormous credit that the SDP survives without him and that there are people of a similar calibre ready to step in and take it further. The foundations are there, and now we need to see a full spectrum of presentable, expert spokesmen pushing high quality policy and stress tested ideas.
Most parties mistake activity for productivity. They engage in the process of electioneering for its own sake, without having a product to sell. It’s like sending Avon ladies out with an empty suitcase. Any serious party must build the product first and then build the message delivery apparatus. Anything else is just noisemaking. It can maybe win elections, but it cannot deliver results.
I can immediately tell Eleanor is serious and committed, with a wealth of experience she can bring to the role, and I know for a fact she has some very capable people around her. She deserves her shot. We need at least one serious party in the game, however futile it may feel right now.
Like I say, I think that it's a bit late in the day for party politics, but small parties like the SDP can still serve a function - as agenda driving quasi-think tanks, and a means to channel middle England's disaffection into meaningful representation (especially on a local level).
The SDP is more likely to achieve that than the vacuous slopulist parties of the right who tend to attract cranks. All they do is make noise and spend more time fighting each other. I sort of regard the SDP as what the Lib Dems should be, and in a parallel universe would be were they not rudderless, thick, and unprincipled.
If at the other end of this political turmoil, the SDP becomes the replacement third party of Westminster politics then it's to everyone's benefit. Eleanor looks like she's up to it. She is very obviously the right fit for the party and I'll be interested to see how it develops. Unless the party can do as good as Clouston or better, there is no further point in it. Eleanor has some big shoes to fill.
I do hope they do well and praise from Pete North is worth having. It is a lonely job being a serious political party that never gets anywhere. Maybe it has role in just being there, setting the bar and keeping a flame alive. Like opera or ballet, it doesn’t have mass appeal but we should appreciate the skill that other singers and dancers should emulate. Which won’t happen. Maybe though someone will dare to do something different. An MP jumps ship, a celebrity (bigger than Rod Liddle) signs up or a rich donor takes a punt and suddenly, the game changes.
And then I woke up.
Social Democrat = Liberal Democrat = Lefties.