Why Tim Montgomerie winds me up

Just to be clear from the start - I'm not blogging again. However as all of us who spend time writing crap on the internet know sometimes something just spurs you onto an online rant that you cannot resist. For me today it was sitting on the tube reading the Evening Standard. On page 6 was an article saying that David Cameron was facing a grassroots rebellion on the basis that the Conservatives were riding high in the polls and apparently that means we should call an election. The main source and basis for this article was something posted by Tim Montgomerie on ConservativeHome suggesting a snap election to dump the Liberal Democrats.

I sat there and I got angry. "Why does whatever Tim Montgomerie feels like saying about the Tory party seem to carry so much weight with the media?", I thought. In my opinion Tim does not represent the views of the majority of Conservative party members. In fact in my years in the party I met hardly anyone whose views are aligned directly with those of Tim Montgomerie. Yet week after week, month after month I seem to be faced with him as the spokesperson of the grass roots in every media outlet. "ConservativeHome members say this in a survey" seems to be a byword for "Every member of the Conservative Party agrees with this" rather than the a logical assumption that the result of a ConservativeHome survey reflects the views of readers of ConservativeHome, who are a select number of Conservative Party members. In fact in recent months I have found myself responding to ConservativeHome surveys more often just so a wider range of views are reflected in the results of the surveys.

At this point let me lay my cards on the table. I have been well out of the world of politicos for two years now. I love my new career and I don't regret the choice for a second. I say what I say with no knowledge of the current Westminster village feeling or even grassroots members feelings. However I do know a fair bit about the man on the street feeling. I work in an inner London comprehensive which is truly a cross section of society. If you don't agree then you've been reading the Daily Mail too much. It's not even like I'm the only Tory teacher there! The feeling I get from people there is that there has not been a Damascan conversion to Conservatives, however people are interested in what this new government is going to do. They don't instantly criticise every move - they look at them and consider them. Some moves have been so radical, such as the NHS reform, that people who would normally be sure of the result of every government initiative have said they genuinely are interested to see how it turns out. People are also interested by the coalition. They want to know if co-operative politics can really work - and they really seem to hope it can. There is a real feel that democracy is changing, for the better. Yet people are cynical and don't expect it to last.

And this is why I got so angry. I'll admit I was thrilled by the coalition. I have been saying for years that most Lib Dems would be Tories but they think we're all bigots and that's the only thing that keeps them out of our party. A coalition between the two parties will see solid civil liberties protection, realistic economic policies and a determined commitment towards localism. It neutralises the lunatic fringe of each party. So when I see Tim Montgomerie trying to tear the coalition down before it's had a chance to get started it really gets my goat. This is a new politics - not a bullshit fantasy slogan of the new Labour era but an actual new way of doing politics and I want to see what it can do before it is ripped down by those too joyless to give it a chance. I expected the people who'd do that to be the press - that's their jobs. However when I see people who profess to care about Politics trying to tear this coalition down it makes me angry and I will not stand for it.

Of course then I went on ConservativeHome to read the article in question - it turns out it was actually a Twitter post and Tim Montgomerie says that wasn't what he was saying at all. In my mind it doesn't remove the fact that I have shouted at the radio/television/newspaper quite a lot over the last two years whenever Tim or ConservativeHome were cited as speaking for the Conservative Party and the many many many many many times I have disagreed with his position.

So why did I post for the first time in nearly two years over what was essentially a non-story? I sat there and wondered why everyone listens to Tim Montgomerie's views. Then I realised - it's because he puts them out there. If you want your views to be heard you have to put them out there too.