The Spectator

Letters: why the Tories need to lose

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issue 01 June 2024

Back to blue

Sir: What a pity your leading article (‘The valley of death’, 25 May) did not reach Downing Street in time. It might have dissuaded the Prime Minister from ruining a good suit, rushing off to Belfast to associate himself with Titanic and allowing himself to be photographed on an aeroplane under a sign proclaiming ‘Exit’.

The coming Labour landslide does, however, present an opportunity for the Conservatives, if they are willing to use the wilderness years wisely. The years in opposition before 1979 enabled Margaret Thatcher to devise and refine a programme of radical right-wing policies. If a new leader can be found of her iron determination and ideological clarity, a similar process could result in a party that has rediscovered its core values and is again capable of winning four consecutive elections.

Francis Bown

London E3

Spoilt for choice

Sir: In his review of Geoffrey Wheatcroft’s new book about the Tory party (Books, 25 May), Philip Hensher refers to ‘the disastrous revision of the leadership election procedure to hand the final choice to a small and unrepresentative party membership’.

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