Tory lead drops to 5%...... Hung parliament?

ninky_2

Sir_Humphrey wrote: »

If Osborne was a popular figure with newspaper hacks, that story would not have appeared in the papers. [EDIT: to clarify the story the link refers to]

I have a fairly good political grapevine. From what I have heard (independent of what I read in the papers) Gordon Brown shouts at his staff, Brian Mawhinney I have yet to hear a good word about, Alistair Darling is a nice chap and George Osborne is pretty obnoxious and not up to the job. Please note moderators that this is what I have heard - I do not vouch for their truth!

I could go on, but English libel laws prevent me from report some things which I am confident are true but which I could not make stand up in court!

i'd rather a shouter than a snake in the grass. tbh i don't think any of us can know whether this stuff is true or not as not a single person has gone on the record to back it up. and that pratt woman at the bullying charity has been shown to be a total charlatan. maybe brown is a bully. but it's strange that he should be in politics so long and these accusations only come to light in the runup to a general election.

mrs t liked a bit of a shouting match too i believe.

aelitaman

Sir_Humphrey wrote: »

The "obnoxious/not up to the job" is what my source tells me is what a lot of Tories think of him.

You forget; in politics your worst enemies are on your own side!

I also hear that the Tories have been soiling themselves over the Gordon Brown interview with Piers "Morgan" Moron, and are not very happy with how 2010 is going.

Disclaimer; the above paragraph is from a reliable, but uncorroborated source - I am not Andrew Rawnsley! LOL

I can believe that a lot of Torys think that.

Sir_Humphrey

ninky wrote: »

i'd rather a shouter than a snake in the grass. tbh i don't think any of us can know whether this stuff is true or not as not a single person has gone on the record to back it up. and that pratt woman at the bullying charity has been shown to be a total charlatan. maybe brown is a bully. but it's strange that he should be in politics so long and these accusations only come to light in the runup to a general election.

I would rather have a shouter than a snake in the grass too.

It is obvious that Rawnsley cannot reveal his sources as that is a breach of confidence - as was the daft women from the bullying charity revealing those calls.

All I said was that Brown shouts at his staff. I could not say for sure whether he is a bully or not. It is always worth taking these stories with a pinch of salt as there is spin on both sides. The Blairites and the Brownites hate each other - it is personal rather than ideological. The Tories are not united either, it is just that they want power enough to resist public rows.

This is politics - how much truth and purity do you expect?

ninky_2

Sir_Humphrey wrote: »

It is obvious that Rawnsley cannot reveal his sources as that is a breach of confidence - as was the daft women from the bullying charity revealing those calls.

and then is transpired her 'charity' was actually just a front for referring people to her husbands business, asking people for money and trying to sue employers etc. think she'd sued three she'd worked for herself!

Kohoutek

Cameron is just in the wrong decade. In this country, we used to be perfectly happy if not grateful to be ruled by the upper classes (think Churchill, MacMillan). Even our grammar school generation of Prime Ministers, like Thatcher, Heath adopted artificial posh accents to fit in.

Cameron's mistake is lack of balance. He should have chosen someone from the left of the party or from a modest background as Chancellor to balance the 'toff' factor. Just like the Thatcherite public school boy Blair chose Prescott as a token left-wing, working class running mate.

blueboy43

Kohoutek wrote: »

Cameron is just in the wrong decade. In this country, we used to be perfectly happy if not grateful to be ruled by the upper classes (think Churchill, MacMillan). Even our grammar school generation of Prime Ministers, like Thatcher, Heath adopted artificial posh accents to fit in.

Cameron's mistake is lack of balance. He should have chosen someone from the left of the party or from a modest background as Chancellor to balance the 'toff' factor. Just like the Thatcherite public school boy Blair chose Prescott as a token left-wing, working class running mate.

He could have chosen Ken Clarke (also ex grammar school) who would have been miles better. Osbourne is a complete liability.

Sir_Humphrey

ninky wrote: »

and then is transpired her 'charity' was actually just a front for referring people to her husbands business, asking people for money and trying to sue employers etc. think she'd sued three she'd worked for herself!

If this helps people to decide. One source reports that an ex-colleague who works with Gordon Brown has to put up with outbursts of very bad temper. I do not recall the word "bully" being used.

For those who like tittle-tattle:

Those I have heard of being likeable as people:

Alistair Darling
Michael Portillo
Gordon Brown

And those who I have heard bad things about:

David Blunkett
Brian Mawhinney
Gordon Brown

Is Gordon Brown a bully, very driven or just difficult to work with? To be honest I do not know.

Sir_Humphrey

blueboy43 wrote: »

He could have chosen Ken Clarke (also ex grammar school) who would have been miles better. Osbourne is a complete liability.

The top secret champagne party with Lord Strathclyde at the last Tory Party conference that I have heard about could yet be premature IMHO.

As Generali said; interesting times!

aelitaman

Sir_Humphrey wrote: »

I would rather have a shouter than a snake in the grass too.

It is obvious that Rawnsley cannot reveal his sources as that is a breach of confidence - as was the daft women from the bullying charity revealing those calls.

All I said was that Brown shouts at his staff. I could not say for sure whether he is a bully or not. It is always worth taking these stories with a pinch of salt as there is spin on both sides. The Blairites and the Brownites hate each other - it is personal rather than ideological. The Tories are not united either, it is just that they want power enough to resist public rows.

This is politics - how much truth and purity do you expect?

But the whole story is not just about Brown shouting at staff, this is the bit that Labour can argue as positive, Brown is driven, etc, etc.

The part that makes people think he is a real nasty piece of work is the fact that he employs people to smear his colleagues in very nasty ways. People know that people make mistakes and if Darling made a mistake over the worst recession in 60 years, then Brown should have had a meeting with him and worked out an action plan to handle it. Brown did not he let his attack dogs smear Darling as reported by numerous journalists as being present at the smearing and mention by name the person that did it. Darlings "Unleash the forces of Hell" comment is believed by the population, Browns denials are not.

It will be interesting to see this weekends polls after the public have digested and thought a little about what Darling said.

Sir_Humphrey

aelitaman wrote: »

But the whole story is not just about Brown shouting at staff, this is the bit that Labour can argue as positive, Brown is driven, etc, etc.

The part that makes people think he is a real nasty piece of work is the fact that he employs people to smear his colleagues in very nasty ways. People know that people make mistakes and if Darling made a mistake over the worst recession in 60 years, then Brown should have had a meeting with him and worked out an action plan to handle it. Brown did not he let his attack dogs smear Darling as reported by numerous journalists as being present at the smearing and mention by name the person that did it. Darlings "Unleash the forces of Hell" comment is believed by the population, Browns denials are not.

It will be interesting to see this weekends polls after the public have digested and thought a little about what Darling said.

All the parties do it. It's horrible and nasty, but that's showbiz.