tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312853715123370916.post2999245425434974137..comments2024-03-17T00:10:44.022+00:00Comments on From Arse To Elbow: The Bore's HeadDavid Timoneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03568348438980023320noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312853715123370916.post-72051072295417335642015-09-25T16:20:20.304+01:002015-09-25T16:20:20.304+01:00I should also add that Wilson tried to make a lot ...I should also add that Wilson tried to make a lot out of Douglas-Home's aristocratic background and 'amateurishness', rather than just the fact that they had to make a Commons seat for him.Igor Belanovnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312853715123370916.post-10012293886308851312015-09-25T16:18:14.528+01:002015-09-25T16:18:14.528+01:00I'm not saying that there was a 'classless...I'm not saying that there was a 'classless society', merely that the political class, or the public face of the 'elite' was more plebian during that period. Even the Tory PMs between 1970 and 1997 were not public-school educated, though it is also noteworthy that Labour leaders weren't either between Gaitskell and Blair. In terms of other leading politicians it isn't quite as decisive, but trade unionists were more prominent among the Labour ranks and under Thatcher the traditional 'wet' grandees fell somewhat out of favour. Igor Belanovnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312853715123370916.post-24137216970238274072015-09-25T14:45:59.225+01:002015-09-25T14:45:59.225+01:00What is more mystifying is how Cameron gets away w...What is more mystifying is how Cameron gets away with the contradiction between being born-to-rule and punting being the "party of the working people".gastro georgenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312853715123370916.post-68828278161735873822015-09-25T14:41:00.690+01:002015-09-25T14:41:00.690+01:00I'm not sure it did change. The era of the &qu...I'm not sure it did change. The era of the "classless society" was relatively brief, and more an aspiration than a reality, running from the Profumo Affair in 1964 to Thatcher's elevation as leader of the Tory party in 1975. Essentially this was the "sixties" as experienced by the majority of the population. <br /><br />The late 70s saw the return of performative class contempt, initially in the irony of the Young Fogey, and with a side-order of barely-concealed racism in the Young Conservative's pro-apartheid stance. The combination of the TV adaptation of Brideshead Revisited and the Falklands War marked the high-point of this particular revanche.<br /><br />Alec Douglas-Home's problems in 1964 were that he was a peer who had been parachuted into a safe seat, a representative of an older generation deemed out-of-touch, and a long-time Tory party apparatchik (he had been PPS to Chamberlain in the late-30s). Being an Old Etonian was the least of his worries, though "upper class twit" was an easy shorthand for some critics.David Timoneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03568348438980023320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312853715123370916.post-4630083924017454932015-09-24T21:31:39.470+01:002015-09-24T21:31:39.470+01:00This pretty much summarises what I would have said...This pretty much summarises what I would have said:<br /><br />http://flyingrodent.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/officer-class.html<br /><br />...except that I would add that between, say, 1960 and the 1990s, being an Old Etonian would probably have been at least a slight disadvantage in the realm of political popularity and success, though obviously still no obstacle to a political career of some kind. The question is, exactly when and why did it change? Igor Belanovnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312853715123370916.post-19594417055958964132015-09-24T21:03:49.819+01:002015-09-24T21:03:49.819+01:00My opinion of Isabel Oakshott was low following he...My opinion of Isabel Oakshott was low following her role in the Chris Huhne, Vicky Pryce, Constance Briscoe debacle. However by forcing David Cameron to deny he ever had his pecker in a pigs head I must give Ms Oakshott some grudging credit as an operator. It is, however a very old trick. The following is an extract from Fear and Loathing On the Campaign Trail '72 By Hunter S. Thompson.<br /><br />..<br />This is one of the oldest and most effective tricks in politics. Every hack in the business has used it in times of trouble, and it has even been elevated to the level of political mythology in a story about one of Lyndon Johnson’s early campaigns in Texas. The race was close and Johnson was getting worried. Finally he told his campaign manager to start a massive rumor campaign about his opponent’s life-long habit of enjoying carnal knowledge of his own barnyard sows.<br /><br />“Christ, we can’t get a way calling him a pig-fucker,” the campaign manager protested. “Nobody’s going to believe a thing like that.”<br /><br />“I know,” Johnson replied. “But let’s make the sonofabitch deny it.”<br />..<br /><br />Any future potential British Prime minister may now have to make assurances about what he has done with his pecker in the past. The obvious solution to this is to make PM a female only position. It's impossible for someone to have your pecker in his pocket if you don't possess a pecker. The Labour party has seen fit to overlook two fine female candidates. Perhaps Ms Oakshott's ulterior motive was to point out that there are some fine female candidates for leader of the Tory party. To make this clear to any Tory readers of this blog I have listed some of the peckerless candidates and their odds of being the next Tory leader from William Hill.<br /><br />Theresa May 8/1<br />Liz Truss 40/1<br />Maria Miller 50/1<br />Chloe Smith 80/1<br />Justine Greening 50/1<br />Sarah Wollaston 66/1<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com