Clarke or Blair? Who would you choose?

[Kipling]

If Kenneth Clarke takes over as head of the Tory Party, and for some wierd reason (death of Brown in mountaineering accident?) Blair runs for reelection, who would you rather have as PM?

[Anarcho-Socialist]

1. I'd vote Lib Dem, or Green

I don't like the Tory Party and I don't like Blair. But I kind-of like the Labour Party and I kind-of like Ken Clarke.

[evermind]

2. Repulsive as Blair is, a Tory government would be worse (n/t)

[Briar]

7. You might think so

but anyone who voted Labour under Bliar got a neo-Thatcherite government anyway. The old certainties have vanished.

Not that the Tories will ever accept Clarke as leader - a Tory Party that did would be profoundly different from what we have now.

I'd still vote for neither of them.

[Mr Creosote]

3. I 'll almost certainly vote Green again

but of the two, Ken Clarke.

[sweetheart]

4. Clarke if he promised to end the failed war on drugs

Clarke would be swept to power on a massive tide of popular intelligence
if he came clean about the dirty war... and he could even preserve his
work with the european project.

Oh, alas, we are to be plagued with wooly replacements for a failed
howard, and all along praying for the libdems to capture enough seats
to function as an opposition now that the tories have dropped the ball
and are busy shagging pigs with bush in crawford.

[evermind]

5. Problem is, you can't have Clarke without a tory government

(unless he defects! ;-) )

Clarke may look ok, but what would his cabinet look like? :scared:

[Anarcho-Socialist]

6. It's very unlikely anyway

Even the so-called "modernising" wing of the Tory party wouldn't have Clarke as leader since he is too socially-liberal and Europhile even for them.

I'm hoping that the Tory backbenchers will resort to their "gut-instincts" and nominate a totally unelectable certifiable-loon as leader.

[non sociopath skin]

9. My feelings exactly.

I voted for Blair and got a right-of-centre government I didn't want.

If I voted for Clarke I'd KNOW I was getting a right-of-centre government.

Politics in the UK today, alas, is about least worst options.

The Skin

[sweetheart]

17. good point

I guess i'll keep up loving those liberal democrats, encouraging them
to get serious and eat up the slack the tory screwups offer.

[philarq]

18. this is the main point

That it's not Clarke that you're electing so much as a back bench full of weirdness and pent up anger.--So Clarke gets the nod--and the govt woulndt last til the next by-election--have to call for another--riots in the streets and whatnot

[Anarcho-Socialist]

19. Hey, welcome to DU!

:hi:

[RogueTrooper]

8. Blair of course

The Blair government is a lot more progressive than people realise.

I would never vote for a Tory. And certainly not the one who takes money from tobacco companies. Go and ask some ambulance men about Clarke.

[T_i_B]

10. The one Tory who looks persuasive to me

Is Sir Malcolm Rifkind, not Ken Clarke. Rifkind always seems to come across as being well spoken, persuasive and above all a moderate.

Ken Clarke did vote against the war with Iraq, but the chances are that he would lead the party into another civil war over Europe.

Will the Tory leadership contest turn into a David Davis one horse race though?

[evermind]

11. Hey, leading the tory party into a civil war is a Good Thing!

I hope he wins the leadership, just for that reason alone!

The sooner the tories are recognised as an expired political option, the better for British politics, imho. New labour can take their place as the party of the Right, and hopefully we can have some opposition from the Left...

(Tongue only partially in cheek)

[T_i_B]

12. I'm not so sure

For one thing, Rifkind might be more able to moderate the nasties in the party then Clarke. Plus one thing we do need at the moment is a decent opposition, and if the main opposition party is more interested in fighting itself then in fighting the government then it becomes a lot easier for Blair to do whatever he wants. We can all see the effects of a weak opposition from the last parliament.

Bottom line for me is that I'd rather have a Tory MP who represents my own views slightly better then a Tory MP who is only interested in party in-fighting. (and my own Tory MP is a right wing Maastricht rebel BTW).

[evermind]

13. I take it you're in a safe Tory seat? I can understand from that

perspective, but for me the national picture is more important (and anyway, let's face it, your Tory MP isn't going to be representing your views to any great extent - unless you're to the right of most people here).

And hey, if the Tory party really did self-destruct in a major way, your Tory seat might not be so safe anymore! That's good, right?

[T_i_B]

20. Yes, I'm in a safe Tory seat

You can find out more about that sort of thing on the below thread (plus you are more then welcome to tell us about your own MP! :-) )

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=191x2259

[LeftishBrit]

15. I also quite like Rifkind!

Especially when compared with Davis...

[Kipling]

16. Rifkind has a snowball's chance in hell:

Clarke might well win if MP's decide.

[LeftishBrit]

14. Neither...

I almost always vote Lib Dem, or occasionally Green, and would certainly not change that habit under the circumstances you describe!

If there wasn't another party to vote for - errr, tough choice. It would depend on who the Tory front bench looked like being. If Clarke's becoming leader meant that the party had turned back into Macmillan/ Heath-style moderates, I just MIGHT vote for them. If, as is more likely, he was just going to be a figure-head for a bunch of Thatcherites, then I'd hold my nose and vote for Blair.

[Kicked in the Taco]

21. If someone put a gun to my head--Blair

Much as I hate Blair, Clarke is only "moderate" in relation to the fruits that dominate the Tory party at the moment- yes he was a very competent Chancellor, but he's also the father of the NHS internal market, and his periods as health and education secretary make it pretty clear that he could be trusted with our public services even less than new labour.