Tories prepare for ‘bonding weekend’
Iain Duncan-Smith is today hoping that a bonding weekend will allow him to rally Party support for his strategy to win the next general election.
The timely trip, which begins today, follows the well-documented departure of one of the Tory leader’s closest allies.
Chief Executive, Barry Legg’s resignation is seen by many as damaging to Mr Duncan-Smith who has been at pains for many months to stifle dissent from within his own ranks.
As testament to the inner Party tensions, there are likely to be notable absentees including Kenneth Clarke – a rebels’ favourite to contest Mr Duncan-Smith’s leadership – and Crispin Blunt, who demonstrated a vote of no confidence in the leader with his resignation.
However, Michael Portillo – also seen as leadership material – is set to be amongst the 120 MPs that are due to attend the event at a cost of £135.
Mr Duncan-Smith is expected to use the weekend in Buckinghamshire to expand on his campaign slogan: “a fair deal for everyone”.
He is likely to hope that the controversy over Mr Legg’s departure will have subsided so that delegates can concentrate on sessions about policy, polling and presentation.
It is also reported that MPs have been advised against casual dress and been asked to arrive in suits.
George Osborne, former speechwriter to William Hague and one of those who launched the idea of the annual trip, predicted that the Tories would by “buoyed” by the recent election results and would use the weekend to capitalise on their success, in an interview on BBC Radio Four’s ‘Today Programme’.
On the same programme, Conservative MP Anthony Steen, also showed enthusiasm for the weekend.
Keen to play down inner party tensions he said, “We’re a very constructive and very dynamic party and I think that although there are many different opinions on many different things, we are quite united as can be seen by the local government election results.”
He also insisted that the Party is behind the leader. He said, “The membership decided that they wanted Iain Duncan-Smith as their leader and we’ve united behind him. There have been a number of hiccups and difficulties, but that’s true of any political party which is in opposition and facing a very successful Government.”
However, this enthusiasm is not shared by the Liberal Democrats. Mark Oaten MP, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party Chair, said, “The thought of Ann Widdecombe, John Redwood and IDS bonding sounds more like the Rocky Horror Show than a serious political party.”
He added, “If the Tories find it difficult to love each other, it will come as no surprise that the public doesn’t either.”
