tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2623721153002721356.post8191352035267441864..comments2024-03-28T17:49:01.125+00:00Comments on Three Thousand Versts of Loneliness: 'Cunning plans' no substitute for arguing your corner.Owen Polleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00567787385096905811noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2623721153002721356.post-55575147285714412852010-05-20T16:50:03.909+01:002010-05-20T16:50:03.909+01:00I thought that's what we had in Sir Reg? Someo...I thought that's what we had in Sir Reg? Someone to get the ship back in shape before a relaunch.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2623721153002721356.post-38643524955648453492010-05-20T15:03:18.287+01:002010-05-20T15:03:18.287+01:00Perhaps the UUP should follow the LibDem example a...Perhaps the UUP should follow the LibDem example and appoint a caretaker while a democratic leader election campaign is carried out?ottonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2623721153002721356.post-39276713209424911062010-05-17T06:01:25.801+01:002010-05-17T06:01:25.801+01:00I tend to agree with Nicholas Whyte. Another angl...I tend to agree with Nicholas Whyte. Another angle I would give is this<br /><br />After the 2001 General Election, when the Conservatives were trounced, William Hague immediately resigned. The result was that the Conservatives went straight into a leadership election. The party had no time for reflection. This led directly to the disastrous leadershio of Ian Duncan Smith. The Conservatives, seeing another humiliation ahead, organised a coup. Michael Howard became leader. Howard made the best of a bad hand. He lost the election but at least began the process of clawing back lost ground. Once the election was over, he did not resign immediately and gave the Conservatives the time they needed.<br /><br />It may well be that this is the precedent which Sir Reg is being guided by. Perhaps, he genuinely wants to see the UUP debate all its options fully and thoughtfully before it makes its next move.Seymour Majornoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2623721153002721356.post-82106736669124379622010-05-16T17:39:42.546+01:002010-05-16T17:39:42.546+01:00I'm actually fairly sympathetic to the timetab...I'm actually fairly sympathetic to the timetable (though no to the UUP). The first strategic decision on candidates for the Assembly elections is to resolve on how many to stand in each seat; that depends not on the wider political strategy but on an honest assessment of where the party stands. Once that decision has been made, the candidates to select will normally be fairly obvious regardless of the decision the new leader decides to take the party - unless of course the decision is taken for full merger with the DUP, in which case all organisational bets are off.<br /><br />So to go ahead now with the organisational agenda is in a sense a signal that the UUP is not preparing for merger with the DUP, but is working out whether or not it can say so in public.Nicholas Whytehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13065102837531945315noreply@blogger.com