To think we can take our country back?

[wheresmymojo]

Here we are - stuck in some kind of batshittery where we're going to have Boris Johnson as our PM, we're going to leave the EU and our only 'friend' will be a man with a shit toupee who thinks sexual assaulting women is something to brag about.

I've been watching it all unfold and feeling helpless while the country I love descends into madness at the hands of a bunch of mainly white, rich, male arseholes who don't even know what the truth is anymore.

But it's occurred to me that there are only 160,000 Conservative party members. In the whole scheme of things that's nothing compared to the number of Mumsnetters!

I know the Tories have been shysters but imagine if we could join the party and push it towards compassionate Conservatism.

I realise this still wouldn't be everyone's bag - but surely it would be better to have a party of compassionate Conservatives than the shite we currently have moving ever further to the right.

It's too late to avoid Brexit and too late to avoid Boris but if anyone on Mumsnet who has ever previously voted Conservative joined the party we could organise, join forces with lovely Rory the Tory, put our best 'stern Mother'* faces on and tell the hard righters to fuck off to some horrible little niche party which will never get into power.

It's £2 a month to join - together we could actually make a huge difference to the country while putting the gender balance to rights at the same time.

Isn't it worth it just to see the faces of Mark Francois, The Mogg et al?

Imagine what we could do to turn around the party's education policies!

Think Momentum but made up of nicer human beings with fairer tactics and better hair.

What do you think?

*You don't need to be a mother to do a stern mother face, I don't have children yet as TTC

...and for GC feminists, it's the only party that we'd be able to have a sensible, respectful debate about how we balance protecting women's rights and trans rights.

OP, I have in my life voted for all 3 major parties although I'd say I'm moderately left leaning by inclination.

However, although I see your point, I'm not paying even £24 a year to the Tory party. Those bastards won't get a penny off me.

Imagine though....imagine if we could pull off even 10,000 women joining and did media pieces with Rory.

We could make a real difference for our children.

I'd rather put my support into making the Lib Dems a credible party again and think Rory should head there too.

I have thought about joining to get voting rights. I actually thought about joining all the parties on the grounds that it is my democratic right to be as involved as possible in choosing who runs our country. Sadly, political parties are partisan and don't allow it. Because of this, I could never actually bring myself to sign on the dotted line as a fully fledged party member.

Chewbacca by fortunately the Lib Dems have made it very clear they don’t want me or my vote, because I believe that laws should be added on biological scientific fact, not fluffy feelz....

That should be “unfortunately”

I agree Rory should be leader of liberals. I think he would stand a good chance of turning them into contenders again .

It's too late to stop Johnsonnor Hunt becoming PM, an sibowuos never be a member of a party where one of them were leaders. So yes you are being unreasonable

You have to be a member for 3 months. I'll be voting for Boris.

You couldn’t pay me to support the tory party, Johnson is sexist, he also thinks people like me are monkeys and bum boys.

I would rather fellate Donald Trump than join the Conservative Party

Actually with those scenarios, either way a part of me would die.

I loved your attitude OP
And I think you are right. It IS up to every single one of us to get. Involved against the far. Right. Rather than being bystanders.

Joining the. Tories won’t Change. Things for this PM election. But it can add pressure on him from the rootgrass level.

Joining and supporting another party can help too.

The Conservatives are already left of centre

LOL

We should just start a 'Mums' party. Who best to handle a bunch of toddlers?

I'd rather have Boris than Corbyn. Neither Labour nor Conservative are fit to run the country at the moment. We're in a bad place politically.

he also thinks people like me are monkeys and bum boys.

Wouldn't it feel good to take the party away from these kind of people?

A modernised compassionate socially liberal Conservative party.

The conservatives are already left of centre.

On what planet would the Tories be left of centre?

They are on the right, and have moved progressively further towards the right in my lifetime (I'm 63).

We have seen the decimation of our public services to the point where schools, NHS, the police are struggling to undertake their core functions. Adult social care is fucked beyond belief and it is almost impossible to get a secure home unless you can afford to buy one because social housing isn't being built in anything like enough numbers (which wouldn't be a problem if private tenancies were regulated and rent controlled). The vulnerable who are benefit-dependent because they are unemployable or unable to work are having their living standards reduced to the point where they struggle to meet their basic needs.

Cuts to legal aid and advice services has meant that those wrongly disadvantaged and denied their most basic rights and entitlements can no longer get help to challenge this.

And all this so that the wealthy can pay less tax.

This country is failing the people most in need because of this right-wing government. And god help us all if Brexit goes ahead and we lose the discrimination, employment, consumer and evironmental protections we currently enjoy because of EU laws.

I’m going to stand as an independent MP at the next election. I am going to ban school non uniform days, dressing up for world book day and Fruit Shoots.

I totally get your point, OP. I left the Greens last year (though still haven’t been able to get the fundraising cold-calls to stop ), and am fiscally conservative enough to have voted Tory in the past.
If there were enough of us to make a Momentum-style difference then I’d join to try and drag them back to centre ground.

Lib Dems is a nice idea but ideologically the fact they believe I’m a bigot is problematic. At least the Tories accept I exist, even if they’d rather chain me to a sink!

Who best to handle a bunch of toddlers?

I wish I did think that so many politicians were only a bunch of toddlers. At least, we could expect them to be able to learn and grow up. Instead, most politicians are cynical and talentless.

I do understand your thinking wheresmymojo. When political parties had a mass membership, they were less likely to adopt policies that only appealed to a narrow group of people. However, increasing its membership has not helped Labour to become more electable.

Can’t remember name of poster who said Caroline Lucas was a virtue signaller - yes, yes, yes. So many people think she is wonderful, it was great to read your comment!

In 2017 (last available figures, I think), the Conservative Party received twice as much in legacies as it did donations from living members. This makes me happier than I can say.

What to do? dunno. It is profoundly depressing.

Well, pepperpot, what you're intended to do is sit home and not vote.

While as the Tories on this thread are telling us, they'll go out and vote Tory regardless.

Voter suppression for our times. Worked for Trump.

Johnson could kill a child on national television and it wouldn’t make a blind bit of difference. The 160,000 Tory members that are actually eligible to vote in this farce of a contest are overwhelmingly male, white, older, posh Brexit voters who think just like him. He is one of them. He will fail miserably as PM of course, because he just doesn’t have the ability, and will probably be out on his ear by Christmas, and then we’ll have to go through the whole bloody saga again, possibly with a general election along the way. Oh joy.

Better to join the Labour party and vote to get rid of Corbyn.

If ONLY there was sane realistic leadership of the Labour Party then we wouldn't be in this shit situation.