Andrea Leadsom expected to win Tory members vote

[claig]

"Andrea Leadsom ‘expected’ to win Tory members vote, says grassroots chief
...
According to Steve Bell, the president of the Conservative Party’s National Convention, the energy minister stands a strong chance of winning their vote.

Despite 60% of Conservative politicians supporting Theresa May, Mr Bell said he was ‘expecting’ Leadsom to win the votes of the party’s 150,000 members in the final stage of polling.
...
Mr Bell, told the Telegraph: ‘It is a wake-up call for MPs to start listening to their members and their supporters.
...
‘From the mood in the people in the country, they want change, they want away from the Westminster village style of politics.’

metro.co.uk/2016/07/09/andrea-leadsom-expected-to-win-tory-members-vote-says-grassroots-chief-5997127/


The Establishment had done their worst
They had lied and laughed till they were fit to burst
In dining clubs in Westminster and Pall Mall
They chortled and chuckled like pairs of pals

Stitch Leadsom up was the message they sent
To all their newspaper buddies and mobs for rent
Oh how they laughed as they sucked her in
Oh how they thought they were sure to win

They used the BBC, Auntie, Uncle and Big Brother
To have a go at Leadsom, who said she was a mother
You couldn't turn the TV on without hearing where Leadsom went wrong
Oh how they laughed and danced as they played their same old song

The BBC interviewed people in the street, anyone they happened to meet
They were all for May, about Leadsom, none of them had a good word to say
Oh how the executives laughed and made hay, sure as hell to get their way
They were already adding up their pay

But they forgot the one constituency that counted
The faithful Tory members, so long denigrated and discounted
The hundred and fifty thousand paid up members, loyal and true
Long called 'swivel-eyed', not metropolitan, modern and new

What the executives forgot is that the hundred and fifty thousand are not on twitter
They don't listen to the gossip and titter
They are immune to the spin of the big hitter
And could yet cause the Establishment another jitter

Brexit shocked them, the people rocked them
Not even Eddie Izzard and Sir Knob Geldof could step them
No amount of V signs flicked at the people by the metropolitan elite
Can ensure Leadsom's defeat

[reallybadidea]

Fucking hell

[claig]

Reports that Leadsom is going to pull out of the race. Announcement at 12 pm

[claig]

Establishment doing catwheels

[braceybracegirl]

please no. i mean its not much of a choice but Leadsome is awful.

[ApocalypseSlough]

What? Where did you hear this? Is it worth putting the TV on desperate to get out of clearing DDs room

[Fivetoomany]

Bbc 2 are covering it now

[claig]

BBC 2

[claig]

They are saying that teh pressure and scrutiny and criticism got too much. If that is teh case, then it is sad, but it shows that Leadsom is not up to the job. You have to be tough, not just nice. You have to be able to face Establishment tricks as well as pressure in general. Thatcher had it, not everyone has it.

I read that Leadsom wants Hillary to beat Trump, so that is another disastrous judgement of Leadsom's.

All of a bit of a joke how our country is run. A Westminster game, Establishment tricks and players not up to it.

[claig]

If the Establishment had tried those tricks on Trump, he would have trounced them. But we don't have politicians of that calibre.

[claig]

Announcement at 12.15 pm

[ApocalypseSlough]

It's true.

[claig]

Tory party members stuffed like turkeys, MPs having a laugh

It is poor old Corbyn to face the tricks next as the vultures circle around him and try to deny him the opportunity to even stand for reelection.

[TimeforaNNChange]

I'm not surprised she is pulling out (if indeed she is) - she looked genuinely shaken by the events over the weekend.

But, I disagree that she had overwhelming grass roots support. I live in a Conservative stronghold where Brexit was overwhelmingly supported and socialise with party members who would have a vote; they have not been impressed with Leadsom at all, despite her Remain credentials.

[claig]

The funny thing is that in a Corbyn vs May genereal election, I think Corbyn would win.

[ErrolTheDragon]

Better the Tory members stuffed than the whole country though. May is competent and pragmatic, unlike AL or Corbyn.

If AL can't stand the heat she should stay out of the kitchen.

[claig]

'If AL can't stand the heat she should stay out of the kitchen.'

I agree. If she is not up to it, she shouldn't have even played the game. The fact that she backs Hillary over Trump, as a Conservative, says she hasn't got the backbone to face down the Establishment media. So, it is best that she does drop out.

[claig]

Right wing Brexit Tories totally defeated by the Establishment who are having a right laugh as the centre holds. Now they will try the same against Corbyn.

[ErrolTheDragon]

The brexiteers in the Tory party destroyed themselves - they didn't put up a solid candidate who could match May. No need for any 'establishment' plots.

It's a shame there won't be a vote though as now the brexiteers (not just Tories, UKIP and Britain first etc) will whine about stitch ups and conspiracies instead of recognising (as many hapless leave-voters do too late) that they were led by fools with no plan, no substance.

[TimeforaNNChange]

If AL can't stand the heat she should stay out of the kitchen

Eugh. I hate that term. AL has been subject to death threats and murderous abuse.
That should never be considered part of the job and no one should be expected to withstand that type of attack.

However, she demonstrated naivety in dealing with the media - which exposed her lack of credentials for the task.

[slug]

"Establishment Plot" is just a shorthand Claig uses when his wild pronouncements and predictions turn out to be woefully wrong.

[lljkk]

indeed, slug!!

[claig]

"Andrea Leadsom has been the victim of a "stitch-up", Iain Duncan Smith has claimed
...
Tim Loughton, Leadsom's campaign manager, said Leadsom was a "fresh face" who the establishment were "ganging up on".

"The establishment are ganging up... it's all about 'let's gang up on Andrea'," he told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show."

www.itv.com/news/2016-07-10/iain-duncan-smith-andrea-leadsom-is-victim-of-stitch-up-in-motherhood-row/

But, Leadsom was not tough enough to be compared to Thatcher and to face up to the pressure. The Tory right backed the wrong candidate and the Daily Mail and other organs of the Establishment got the candidate they wanted.

[claig]

Beth Rigby on Sky saying "when she [Leadsom] was tested at the highest level, she was found wanting".

The real mistake is that of most of the right wing Brexiteers who knew Leadsom and backed her.

[ErrolTheDragon]

In this instance, I really don't think we can blame the DM or any other paper for ALs inability to handle an interview. If the 'establishment' got what 'they' wanted ( whoever the flip 'they' are) then it was by default because of the brexiteers shambolicness.

[slug]