I was opposed to the reform of the Conservative Party leadership election rules when William Hague introduced the final selection by ordinary party members, once MPs had narrowed the field to a choice between two candidates.
We are a representative democracy where MPs, elected for the purpose, take decisions on our behalf. Inevitably MPs will be familiar with the candidates in away that ordinary party members cannot possibly match. MPs will have seen them perform and they will know their strengths and weaknesses. In the last week I’ve had any number of enquiries from party members asking for my assessment of particular candidates, about whom they freely admit they know nothing at all.Political parties need to have confidence in their leadership if they are to function effectively in either government or opposition. The final choice of leader by a wider party membership however, raises the possibility of a leadership choice that a parliamentary party decidedly didn’t want.This is exactly what befell the Parliamentary Labour Party after Ed Miliband’s resignation in 2015.Labour MPs voted very decisively against Jeremy Corbyn but their wider party membership chose him anyway, with all the unhappy consequences for them that followed.
Against this possibility of ending up with a dud chosen by the membership, the parliamentary voting rounds are skewed to engineer who ends up in second place and not just who comes first: Subterfuge is almost designed into the system.
A parliamentary ballot can be organised in hours, but involving the party membership adds weeks. Hustings and debates have to be organised in addition to the logistics of the postal ballot itself. This delay may paralyse effective government at a time when events demand swift and focussed leadership.
Can we get this genie be put back into the lamp?It is always harder to take something away than not to have conceded it in the first place.One of the benefits of party membership that are ‘sold’ to members is their role in influencing the choice of party leader. I can‘t see them giving it up willingly. Nevertheless, in the five Conservative leadership contests that have taken place since William Hague’s reforms, in only three of them have the membership actually had that deciding vote. This is because the second placed candidate in the parliamentary stages has chosen to withdraw before reaching the membership ballot stage. This happened in 2003 when the parliamentary party ensured that Michael Howard was unopposed. It happened again in 2016 when Andrea Leadsom withdrew from the contest against Theresa May.Last week Boris hinted that it may be the case again this time when he taunted Keir Starmer at Prime Minister’s Questions that it might be their last outing together because his successor could well be chosen by ‘acclaim’ this week, avoiding the prolonged process entirely. It doesn’t look likely, anyway it would infuriate the members.I fear that we are stuck with this system however unsatisfactory.
Sir Desmond Swayne TD
