Love Him or Hate Him, Tory Rory Stewart Listens
- Liam John
- Jun 4, 2019
- 3 min read
Updated: Nov 28, 2019
I feel it’s worth commenting on the self-interest clearly evident in the Tory party in 2019. As the walls of what was once the strongest force in Western democracy crumble around them, every single leading Tory party figure who’s ever been told by their Mum they would make a good Prime Minister, steps forward.
We’ve seen a lot of treachery from Boris Johnson, Dominic Raab and Michael Gove so I won’t bore you with their biographies but when you’re not lucky or self-interested enough to be in the top three, how do you stand out?
Sajid Javid is the current Home Secretary and former-Deutsche Bank managing director. Javid won’t be Prime Minister, I only mention him because of the completely unique way he has tried to cement himself in his leadership campaign.
Our Home Secretary has so far in the past-week turned unexpectedly on Scotland, saying: “if I was PM, I wouldn’t allow a second Scottish Independence Referendum.”
This sparked the hashtag “#PermissionFromSajid” to be born, where the people of Scotland asked Sajid Javid for permission to do things for which they don’t need permission.
Javid and Scottish twitter mocking him
Javid has also been criticised this week in the Irish press for calling Ireland “The tail that wags the dog” over Brexit, claiming he would renegotiate the Irish border backstop.
Let’s hope Javid gets the votes he needs in England and Wales.
One candidate who has done a little better to stand out from the pack is Rory Stewart MP the Secretary of State for International Development. The twice-published Oxford and Harvard graduate who served in the Black Watch and as an adviser in post-invasion Iraq’s name has been on everyone’s lips. But not for his, admittedly impressive, career.
No, it is his willingness to listen that has given his popularity. I wrote in my last piece about May’s refusal to listen to the public and how it was her downfall.
Tory hopeful Rory Stewart
Rory Stewart appears to have made the same analysis I have and decided to take a very different approach to Sajid Javid, by listening to something that isn’t his own voice.
It’s possible to utterly disagree with Stewart and still respect his approach. He’s been meeting with people all over the U.K (not just London) to discuss the political issues of the day.
Here he is talking to Students in Edinburgh, shopkeepers in Warrington and visiting a mosque in Woking. He also posted him speaking Dari with an Afghan man in Barking. Predictably it has become a meme on the left, his posts about debating anyone anywhere are quirky for Conservative politicians because they are less common.
Many MP’s, for example, choose not to live in and frequent the political bubble. What is essentially a social media opportunity for Rory Stewart, one which makes him stand out from his Etonian buddies, is just a trip down the local shop for milk for many old-school Labour and SNP MP’s.
With that said there are some Labour voters who have taken to Rory as if he truly is the saving grace in British politics. His, tired but true, centrist position on Brexit of “no deal is bad” was met with praise on Twitter.
Stewart went on right-wing commentator Nick Ferrari’s LBC radio show where his, frankly lukewarm, Brexit position was not met with the same enthusiasm when he spoke with some angry listeners.
Regardless of what you think of Rory Stewart MP, he’s probably not Britain’s savour, the man with all the answers or even in with any chance of being your next Prime Minister. However, he is listening to people. It may not be original but it works.
Although at the beginning of this week I was excited by the prospect that I may be witnessing the death of the Conservative party. I think he’s the proof that they can, and probably will adapt to survive.
Comments