In the October ConservativeHome survey of 1,206 Conservative Party members, 53% voted for John Howard as their favourite centre right leader in the world today. 19% for Nicolas Sarkozy. 10% for George W Bush. Another 10% for Angela Merkel. 8% for Stephen Harper. If more of you knew about Stephen Harper, I think more of […]
I’m in a Starbucks looking up at Cologne Cathedral. About to head to the airport and return home to London. I’ve just finished reading the cover feature in this week’s Newsweek: "LOST LEADER: Once hailed as Germany’s Margaret Thatcher, Angela Merkel is now ruling by poll, lying low, stalling on reform. What happened?" The article […]
David Cameron has met up with New Zealand National Party leader John Key. It’s actually the third time they’ve met, they were introduced to eachother when they were both up-and-coming backbenchers. Commenting on the comparisons often drawn between the two men, Key said: "I think there are a reasonable number of similarities – we are […]
Britain may not be having an autumn election but other Conservatives are facing contests. There’s a 50% chance that Canada’s minority Conservatives may face an election. Australia’s John Howard is certainly facing an election. He has just announced 24th November as polling day. All opinion polls suggest that he is likely to be beaten by […]
Yesterday evening some of the Conservative Party’s top donors mingled with MPs, including Iain Duncan Smith, and journalists, including the Editor of The Sun, at the inaugural Margaret Thatcher lecture – hosted by Liam Fox’s Atlantic Bridge. Before the Mayor spoke all of the reception talk was of an autumn election and people were very […]
Three weeks ago we asked when Merkel and Cameron would meet after they missed an opportunity to do so. The answer is today, in Berlin, and it sounds like they got on encouragingly well. Cameron talked to her about our policy review process and they’ve agreed to set up several joint working groups on issues […]
Gordon Brown’s quality time with Angela Merkel has had a lot of coverage (pic nicked from the Coffee House) but as Jonathan Isaby points out today, her trip to London this week was yet another missed opportunity to meet David Cameron. Brushing off any idea of an overt snub (as was also alleged about Sarkozy […]
Sam Coates and I are currently touring the Anglosphere – meeting conservative politicians, writers and policy researchers. Last week I published a report card on US conservatism and today there is this extended post on Canada’s Conservative Party. Next Friday I’ll write about conservatism in Australia before writing a series of more general reflections on […]
Samuel Coates and I are currently in New York. It’s part of a four week fact-finding tour of the English-speaking world that will include time in Canada and Australia. Sam is also going on to New Zealand. At the end of the four weeks we will be writing a number of essays on the health […]
9.19pm: David Cameron’s reaction – "I warmly congratulate Nicholas Sarkozy on his election as President of France. He has campaigned with energy on a platform of change from the economy to the environment on which he promised again tonight that France under his presidency would play a leading role. Now France has voted for change […]
I would imagine very few ConservativeHome readers would have picked up the waste of trees that is the Daily Mirror this morning, but you may have seen the story we linked to from the frontpage about Nicolas Sarkozy apparently snubbing David Cameron. It won’t surprise you that the Mirror got it wrong. It was based […]
Only 0.69% of this blog’s readers come from France so any endorsement this blog makes of Nicolas Sarkozy will be electorally irrelevant but ConservativeHome does think his agenda is preferable to the reheated tax-and-spend policies of his second round and socialist opponent, Segolene Royal. Sarkozy describes himself as a ‘man of the right’ and set […]
In another major coup for David Cameron the Governor of California – Arnold Schwarzenegger – has agreed to address this year’s Blackpool Conference. There are a number of things I don’t like much about Arnie and his politics but now is not the time to rehearse those. Here are three things that we can usefully […]
Tory Chairman Francis Maude spoke to ConservativeHome/ 18DoughtyStreet.com yesterday evening at a reception organised by the excellent Lesley Taylor for Conservatives Abroad and Republicans Abroad. Francis answered questions on… The Conservative-GOP relationship – he insisted that the GOP was absolutely the Tories’ sister party despite reports to the contrary; Why Al Gore was addressing the […]
The Tory-GOP divide is becoming more serious. After Friday’s criticisms of George W Bush from Peter Ainsworth, the News of the World has confirmed ConservativeHome’s story of January that John McCain is disappointed by David Cameron’s more dove-ish policy on Iraq… except the language in the NotW story (not online) is harder. Senator McCain, who […]