So it seems that Lord Ashcroft is wondering if David Cameron is actually a conservative. The Tory Leader’s focus on fringe issues such as gay marriage rather than on curbing immigration and cutting taxes has apparently left Ashcroft rather annoyed.
That profile fits many former Conservatives of twenty, thirty, forty years-plus service to the Tory Party who have since given up on it and transferred their support to UKIP. Only yesterday another former Conservative County Councillor joined up.
Such is the disillusionment of this increasingly large group that Cameron’s “in-out” pledge had virtually zero effect. It was clearly an opportunistic pledge from an opportunistic Prime Minister who has become a complete electoral liability to the Tory Party. He wades into issues such as the EU only when prompted by UKIP’s poll ratings rather than any actual ideological belief.
Lord Ashcroft I’m sure still considers himself as a conservative, without a doubt. But true small-c conservatives no longer exclusively reside in the Tory Party. Maybe he should consider joining the likes of Stuart Wheeler, Lord Pearson and Lord Hesketh in a party which focuses on the concerns of ordinary Brits rather than the musings of Chipping Hill.
