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but was too young to realise the significance.
I think there were plenty of others who failed to see what was going on. It seems to me that much of the media coverage of these events is intended to obscure the truth rather than to explain it.
It seems to be generally agreed by those who have experience of Westminster that 'Yes Minister' was a good explanation of how things worked, and I've heard that the Iron Lady herself loved it. I put this in the past tense because it seems that Johnson and Cummings between them got rid of a lot of the 'mandarins', which is partly why they're in so much trouble now. When Hacker agreed to a public enquiry into some problem he was responsible for, he justified his agreement by saying: 'a drowning man will clutch at a straw'. Humphrey (the mandarin) came back with 'That wasn't a straw, Minister, it was a rope!' Which will probably be the outcome of the present party enquiry.
Now Humphrey is at home in Hazlemere and not helping ministers out of their stupid mistakes.
Another insight can be found in Hilaire Belloc's cautionary tale 'Lord Lundy'.
Lundy was put into politics by his powerful family, but was a failure because he kept bursting into tears, causing him to sink from Foreign Secretary to Curator of Big Ben. At this point he is summoned into the presence of his Grandfather (a Duke) who addressed him thus:'Sir! You have disappointed us!
We had intended you to be
The next Prime Minister but three:
The stocks were sold; the press was squared;
The middle class was quite prepared.
But as it is ....My language fails!
Go out and govern New South Wales!Yes, my point is that the tories won't allow him to run again.
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clubman
I just about remember her leaving, but was too young to realise the significance.
If anything the fact that they kicked her out reinforces that they definitely won't let Johnson run again for a GE now he's recognised as a liability.
I don't think they'd wait two years for the next GE though - get someone in who'll allow the Tories who won't vote for Johnson to revert and hammer a GE through before anyone notices that the policies and living standards are still the same / worse.