Following David Davis’s wine bar attack on the coalition, news comes that the Conservative right is planning to a form a “Brokeback Club” to challenge government policy in a series of areas.
For those who missed it the first time round, Davis, quoting Michael Ashcroft, denounced the Tory-Lib Dem alliance as the “Brokeback coalition”, a reference to Ang Lee’s superb Brokeback Mountain.
The Conservative right has been strangely muted since the election, but this could be about to change. Mark Pritchard, secretary of the 1922 Committee, is reportedly planning greater co-ordination between the three main Tory factions — the Cornerstone group (dubbed the “Tombstone” group by critics), the 92 Group and the No Turning Back Group.
The right has also begun its search for a leader. ConservativeHome’s Paul Goodman recently observed that the coalition was a marriage of four parts, not two: the Lib Dem left, the Orange Bookers, the Conservative leadership and the Tory right. Of these four groups, it is only the Tory right that lacks an identifiable leader (the Lib Dem left has Simon Hughes, the Orange Bookers have Clegg and the Tory establishment has Cameron).
David Davis, as I’ve pointed out before, has been the most effective critic of the coalition from the right. He led the opposition to the government’s 55 per cent rule and was one of those who forced George Osborne to minimise the increase in capital gains tax. But Davis remains too much of a maverick to lead the right and many of his colleagues see him as vain and lacking in judgement.
Either way, it looks like Tory MPs are planning to use the summer recess to work out their strategy for the conference season. One MP said: “At the minute, different people are fighting different battles. Divided, we are weak; together, we are a force to be reckoned with.”
Here are some of the potential flashpoints over the coming months:
— The timing of the electoral reform referendum.
— Kenneth Clarke’s plan to cut prison numbers.
— The ring-fencing of Health and International Development spending.
— The retention (or not) of the 50p tax rate.
Content from our partners
Related
