[Tubby Isaacs]

They still hold 30 seats in South East England. Some had a Con-Kip majority last time, but might not be straightforward to add the two elements together. On the other hand, adding Labour and Green votes to the Lib Dems might not be too difficult.

[Yug]

What is it with John Major talking sense?

John Major has told the Conservatives that forming an alliance with Reform UK would “for ever destroy” the party, which he said had already left traditional supporters “politically homeless” by lurching too far to the right.

The former prime minister dismissed a pact with Nigel Farage’s party as “beyond stupid”, saying that any Tories tempted to defect to Reform should go now because his own party would be better off without them...

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... ond-stupid

“Frustration with democracy should not blind us to the toxic nature of nationalism, or any and every form of populist or authoritarian government,” he said.

Addressing a Conservative party lunch on Tuesday, he urged the party not to reject the centre ground of British politics, saying they were “seriously alienating” voters by coming down on the wrong side of public opinion on Europe, climate change and overseas aid.

In a wide-ranging criticism of the current direction, Major accused the Tories of a loss of pragmatism, tolerance and nuance, and of ignoring the 43% of the nation’s voters in the political centre. The party must “change or cease to be relevant”, he said.

“To embrace such a narrow philosophy shrinks the party from being a broad-based national movement to resembling a petty and mean-minded cult.

It's not often that I agree with a Tory, but once again I find myself applauding Major.

[Tubby Isaacs]

His autobiography is good. He was pretty grim in terms of public spending, but was much more able than he was given credit for. His greyness looks more attractive in hindsight with some of the "characters" we've had since.

[Abernathy]

In the early 1990s, I used to get people saying things to me, fairly often, like "Say what you like about John Major, but he is a thoroughly decent man."

I used to point out to them that the terms "thoroughly decent man" and "Leader of the Conservative Party" are mutually exclusive .

These days, I tend to think that those people may have had a point. Major is one of those (few) Tory politicians, like Heseltine, whose stature has grown while out of office.

[Bones McCoy]

In the early 1990s, I used to get people saying things to me, fairly often, like "Say what you like about John Major, but he is a thoroughly decent man."

I used to point out to them that the terms "thoroughly decent man" and "Leader of the Conservative Party" are mutually exclusive .

These days, I tend to think that those people may have had a point. Major is one of those (few) Tory politicians, like Heseltine, whose stature has grown while out of office.

This is one of the few credible arguments for a chamber like the house of Lords.

We ought to tap into the experience of these elder statesmen

It would carry a lot more weight if the Lords wasn't jam packed with political brown-nosers and donors.
They drown out the voices of the worthy, experienced and expert (are we still supposed to be tired of them).