David Cam-Wrong

David Cameron has lost control of his party. He is being undermined left, right and centre by everyone from backbenchers to ex-cabinet ministers. The government’s inability to put forward a coherent position on the EU is destroying Cameron’s credibility not only both here and abroad, but, most importantly, within his own party. His never-ending battle to appease backbench Euro-sceptics has been blown completely out of proportion, as they have now put forward a motion to vote against their own Queen’s Speech; no strong, competent leader would ever let this happen.

Cameron’s real issue is that he does not inspire anything in anyone. The problem with the post-Thatcher Conservative party is the ferocious differences in opinion between those on the left of the party and those on the right, which often causes them to pick leaders who do not stand for anything. You can be certain that this would have never happened under Thatcher – as a leader who definitely had a strong ideological position, she would not let her backbenchers dictate policy in the way Cameron does. Cameron is what they settled for, he is a compromise, and this is why he is unable to hold his party together now that the going is getting tough.

This is not the first time his own party has changed his plans – Lord’s Reform was blocked by his backbenchers, which in turn caused the Liberal Democrats to block boundary changes. If these problems persist, it cannot be long before a leadership contest occurs – it seems Philip Hammond and Michael Gove are already sharpening their knives, as both have said that they would vote to leave the EU if a referendum was held tomorrow, putting them both in the good books of Euro-sceptics in case a leadership contest does indeed rear its head.

So what should Cameron do? If he lets his backbenchers pull the Tories further to the right, Cameron knows they are likely to lose the centre ground and alienate the supporters of New Labour that helped the Tories win seats in 2010. However, there is growing concern that if they fail to talk tough on Europe, then UKIP will destroy all hopes of a Tory majority in 2015. He needs to think tactically. If a referendum was held now, then it would certainly take wind out of Nigel Farage’s sails, but then again it could do more damage than good – as Cameron intended to use the promise of a referendum as leverage to win in 2015. On top of all this he also has ex-Conservative leader hopeful David Davies accusing him of being out of touch now Cameron has appointed more old Etonians to his inner circle. Cameron is lucky that Nick Clegg is not putting up more of a fight, then the Prime Minister really would be out of friends.

Things are not looking good for the Prime Minister, with growing concerns about this current government’s economic plan. Unless you vote Tory out of principle, then there is hardly any reason to vote for them at all. The only reason I believe that Cameron has any reason to feel hopeful, is that Ed Miliband really has not taken advantage of Cameron’s incompetence to build a platform on which Labour could successfully win in 2015. Cameron is extremely lucky that someone is not capitalising on his inability to hold his party together and successfully realise his dreams for Britain.

The Conservative vote has been on a downwards trend for over eighty years. If UKIP really do break through as a serious political party perhaps whatever the Tories do is irrelevant; the public have for a while been growing tired of this out of touch party of public school boys who do not know the price of milk. I cannot see how they can win in 2015, short of bringing in an equivalent to Nigel Farage: some lovable buffoon who is more of a clown than a politician, it is not like they have anyone like that anyway – is it?