Douglas Carswell's Blog

What next?

It might only be Tuesday, but already I get the feeling that we Conservatives have had better weeks.

Where do we go from here?  Up, actually. If we want to.

First of all, Ed Miliband. He can be beaten. He has been Labour leader for a couple of years, but has failed to inspire. His speeches read as a string of Westminster clichés. We could ensure that he becomes the new Neil Kinnock; much more appealing mid-term than on polling day.

To be sure, UKIP's success in the recent local elections ought to send a jolt through our party.  I hope it does.  But – without being at all complacent – doesn't UKIP's success at the same time illustrate that there happens to be quite a market for small state, free market, Euro sceptic politics?

Forget the row about who might have said what about Tory members in some Westminster restaurant.   The internet not only means it has never been easier to build mass membership organisations (ask Italy's Beppe Grillo).   It also means that increasingly, organisations that want to have a mass membership at all, will have to give them more control. Good news for grass roots. Game over for grandees. 

Opinion-forming in Westminster, which for generations was the preserve of a self-regarding, leftist elite, is being democratised. On many of the macro issues of our age – Europe, immigration, energy policy – the elite is slowly but surely having to shift its views. And they are only moving in one direction.

Cheer up. The outlook for small state, free market Conservatism is actually rather bright.

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