I got a report from inside the 1922 committee, one of the most important meetings in its history. There was a real sense of purpose in there, with a wide range of accents – something not heard in the Conservative parliamentary party for some time.
There was the bombshell that the Conservative front bench had agreed to a referendum on the Alternative Vote system as a price for stable government with the Liberal Democrats. This is nothing compared to the Labour offer, which is the Alternative Vote as a whipped vote as the first bill in parliament and a referendum on Proportional Representation. There was a good deal of acceptance, although as the former Conservative MP Paul Goodman admits this is not necessarily the end of the story.
Personally I think a coalition of the losers led by another unelected Prime Minister will have the effect of forcing the electorate to realise that this financial crisis is very, very real and not some mirage in the way that some will believe if it is a Tory minority government making the cuts. On a far less important note it will be a shot in the arm for the Conservative Party, in England.
I’m also going to come out and admit that I actually want to see some sort of proportional representation, and I don’t believe that it will simply lead to left leaning governments for ever and a day. That’s going to annoy a number of Tory readers, and I haven’t done that for a few days.
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