By Michael Gonzalez, deputy editor of The Wall Street Journal Europe's editorial page
ASHBY-de-la-ZOUCH, England -- The English Midlands does not have the immediate attractions of other parts of Britain. It lacks London's frenetic energy, Scotland's haunting ruggedness and the home counties' crickety quaintness. But it is, as its name implies, middle England; the people are as polite as the countryside is gentle, but can be as flinty as the coal once found under the rolling hills. The region is neither faithfully Labour red nor Tory blue; this is where many of the marginal seats are, so a small swing either way could determine a national trend. If what I observed during a recent stop-over is indicative of anything, the Tories are in as much trouble as the polls say they are, but in the long term their future might be brighter.
Better days could be ahead because of young men like the local Tory candidate in this key Leicestershire seat, Nick Weston. Nick, 30, might not be able to carry the seat come election day, June 7, but many here bet he'll be able to close the gap by a few thousand votes. And, mind you, he must bear two Tory crosses. Not only is he saddled with the unpopularity of the party at the national level, but his immediate Tory predecessor David Ashby also did not leave fond memories. He was dropped by the party after losing one of the most infamous and acrimonious libel cases of the 1990s, over alleged homosexuality.
But even if Nick can't beat these poor odds this time around, he'll be back next time with better name recognition. Or he might get a safer seat. And the good news is that Nick, with whom I had the pleasure of canvassing door to door last weekend, is making inroads with a free-market message of local empowerment. Even better news is that he is not alone. He reckons there must be a dozen new candidates like him, in their early 30s, all suffused with ideas that are self-consciously Hayekian, and burning to become a new hard core that would change the Conservative Party from within.
Receptive Voters
"I want local control of services," he said in doorway after doorway. Voters were receptive. They feel put out because London decides how much is spent on every student or every sick person, and how it will be spent. While Prime Minister Tony Blair has given devolution to assemblies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, England's regions face the double indignity of seeing their fate decided not just in London, but often by politicians from those three locales in the so-called Celtic Fringe.
But Nick's form of devolution is not the me-tooism of demanding an assembly for the Midlands, an idea being bruited but that he opposes. "We don't need another tier of government. That would just be more politicians -- more sub-committees of sub-committees. We want to devolve power back to the professionals," he says.
His idea is to "ring-fence" as much of the local tax money as possible ("100%, if I could," he says) and give that money to the people who make decisions. Since taxes are collected nationally, Westminster would send the money back to headmasters in the case of education, or to the Local NHS Trust, in the case of the National Health Service. Taxpayers would see first-hand how their money is being spent.
"I would abolish the DFEE," he said referring to the London-based Department for Education and Employment, reminding me of the excitement of the early Reagan years in America. He hastens to add that his party is not ready to endorse that position yet. On the euro he is equally a disciple of FA Hayek, and ahead of his times. He opposes Britain's adoption of the single currency, as does his party's leadership, but would allow people to trade in it if they so desired. "Let the two currencies compete."
He would also, he says only half jokingly I suspect, "get rid of the Toffs." They're the upper-class men and women who've always seen the Conservative Party as their own private plaything, but dismiss ideas as something to entertain parvenus or disinherited second sons. A curious image comes to Nick's lips as he talks about the young Turks ready to seize the leadership of the party in the next decade: "We are, in a way, the New Labour of the Tory Party."
I understand the imagery, for it was only by getting rid of the old loony left that Tony Blair was able to make his party electable again and became prime minister. Mr. Blair took the Labour party closer to Thatcherism. But it would have to be a reconstituted Tory party that would complete the Thatcher Revolution, which despite what we may think, barely put a chink in the armor of public-service dependence.
"We all grew up under Mrs. Thatcher and are very meritocratic. Not from traditional Tory backgrounds," says Andrew Griffith, another of the young Turks who's also running for a nearby Midlands seat in Northamptonshire. "It's a question of culture. We're a more international generation, most of us have worked abroad."
New blood they will need, for at the national level, the Conservatives have become a party on the defensive.
As I followed Nick door to door, in London the Conservative Party was becoming embroiled in yet another highly publicized rift. Tory leader William Hague has shifted the focus away from the health and education issues that I saw Nick emphasize all day to great success, and onto what he believes are the "core Tory issues" of asylum seekers and Europe. Yellow M, the advertising company the Tories have hired, has reportedly disowned this shift.
As it happens, I was afforded interesting insights on national politics from my Midlands perch. I was able to see how the "core issues" played. Also, Michael Portillo, the shadow chancellor and No. 2 in the Tory ticket, helicoptered into the area to help Nick and others campaign.
For what it's worth, the only two people who raised the euro issue were traditional Tory voters who said they disliked the party's position on it. This needs some explaining. The antieuro stance is shared by a huge majority, according to polls. But Mr. Blair appears to have neutralized the issue by promising a referendum, so it is getting zero extra votes for the Tories. Instead, you get people like Haydn Greeves, 34, who's in the clocks and time-pieces business. "The Conservatives are the party of business and should be pro-euro, rather than taking this strange position. I may have to vote Labour," he said.
Crucial Issue
Soon after Mr. Greeves let Mr. Portillo know his views during a walkabout in town, I approached the shadow chancellor to ask him if he thought the party should let the front-bench vote its mind at a euro referendum. The issue is crucial. Strict adherence to a strong europhobic position has become the Tories' version of political correctness. Those who disagree with it tell me they're afraid to air their views.
Mr. Portillo is especially vulnerable, as he is considered a closet euro supporter: Lord Tebbit famously called him "touchy-feely, pink-pound Portillo," while a rabid europhobic Web site that's getting a lot of attention (www.candidlist.demon.co.uk) describes him as a rank opportunist who would support anything. Bearing all these things in mind, Mr. Portillo eyed me warily and ducked the question: "Look, I haven't agreed to give you an interview."
Haughty? Sure. Judicious? Probably. Revealing? Very. But sad also. The Conservatives occasionally still show signs of their former greatness, such as they did last month when many of them refused to sign a pledge not to bring race into the electoral race. But then they cower before a Web site; many of the party's top names have written in just to make sure that they get posted for everyone to see as euroskeptics. To their credit, neither Mr. Portillo nor Mr. Hague have deigned to respond to candidlist. Somewhat to my disappointment, Nick has written in to declare his euroskepticism.
But this is his first contest. If the Conservatives indeed do lose, as all polls say they will come election day, June 7, I expect the new wave to fight for the soul of the party. If they truly believe in what they say, the party should be in better hands come 2005.
-- From The Wall Street Journal Europe