The British Conservative Party has dumped Iain Duncan Smith as their leader in Parliament.
Smith was never a very effective leader, and he had all the charm and charisma of a bulldog. The Tories are in deep political trouble as they haven’t been able to work effectively against Blair’s “New Labour” and the average age of their party is hovering around “deceased”. The Tories have lacked any sort of direction – and they’ve been paying the political price ever since.
It’s unfortunate that the party of the Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher (the best British Prime Minister since Sir Winston Churchill) is in such dire straights. However, they are emblematic of a party that may have its heart in the right place but can’t articulate a message with a damn. Unless the Tories can find a leader who can take their message to the British public in an effective manner they may be in for another lengthy period in the political wilderness.
Brian Micklethwait of Libertarian Samizdata is more optimistic about the Conservative’s future – he could be correct, but I’d wait to see who emerges from the ashes of Mr. Duncan-Smith’s ouster before I’d be willing to make any bets on their return to dominance of the Parliament.
