SubscribeIn the old days Tory leaders simply ‘emerged’. The old guard would get together in a quite gentleman’s club and come to a gentleman’s agreement as to who should lead what was once the most successful electoral machine in any Western democracy.
Today the pendulum has swung the other way. Anybody registered to vote in London can have a say in who should be the candidate for London Mayor, in a similar process to that employed by popular reality TV shows. You don’t have to be a loyal Tory to vote; you don’t even have to be a loyal Tory to be the candidate. But still nobody of substance has come forward and they may have to put the whole thing off.
The final blow appears to be local radio DJ Nick Ferrari’s decision not to stand as the right wing populist choice. Yet Londoners needn’t miss out, as now they’ve put the idea in his head, he may stand against the Tories as an independent.
So loyal to the party cause is Ferrari, he’s given his dog, ‘Thatcher’, permission to stand. Thatcher is, after all, a household name unlike the other candidates who are, ‘not even names in their own households’.
Perhaps the Conservatives should go for Victoria Borwick. She’s reported to have two supporters already.
