Portillo, one time nearly leader of the conservative party, on This week discussed the dire situation of the conservative party. They did not win the last election which resulted in the coalition government, and even simply on historical grounds will do worse at the next. Governments always do. So their next chance might be in 2020, which will mean they are approaching the all time record for a major UK political party not to win power. Portillo argued that the gay marriage debate exactly illustrated their problem. Cameron recognised that there was no alternative but to support this bill, because there was a majority both in the country and in the commons for it to happen. So had he opposed it, it might still have passed, and then been a total victory for opposition parties with conservatives completely as the villains. So he supported it.
The problem is, his party didnt. Each one who stood up in the house of commons and complained that this spelled the end of the world failed to appreciate that the world had changed. Each one drove in another coffin nail for their failure at the next general election. Worse, Cameron is still fighting a rearguard action against the anti-europe faction in his party, which issue will not settle down as this one will, but will continue rumbling indefinitely. Conservative ant-europeans think they might have a chance because public opinion is at least hostile to europe, whereas in the gay debate it was clearly against them. Not that they took much notice of common sense in that debate either. The british public may be vaguely hostile to europe, but it really doesnt care. What they will see is a battle royal within the conservative party just getting bigger and bigger as the next election approaches, and conservatives becoming ever less electable.
So this issue raises the question of why the conservative party exists at all.
The problem is, his party didnt. Each one who stood up in the house of commons and complained that this spelled the end of the world failed to appreciate that the world had changed. Each one drove in another coffin nail for their failure at the next general election. Worse, Cameron is still fighting a rearguard action against the anti-europe faction in his party, which issue will not settle down as this one will, but will continue rumbling indefinitely. Conservative ant-europeans think they might have a chance because public opinion is at least hostile to europe, whereas in the gay debate it was clearly against them. Not that they took much notice of common sense in that debate either. The british public may be vaguely hostile to europe, but it really doesnt care. What they will see is a battle royal within the conservative party just getting bigger and bigger as the next election approaches, and conservatives becoming ever less electable.
So this issue raises the question of why the conservative party exists at all.