Change in British politics can as easily creep up on one as happen rather suddenly. Think on Churchill’s election defeat post WW2.
The Poll tax riots in March 1990 and the massive demonstration against the war in Iraq in February 2003, marked the end of the popular legitimacy of the two other towering post-war prime-ministers, Thatcher and Blair.
In recent days the heckling of the chancellor George Osborne by thousands of spectators at the Paralympics will I think eventually take its place in the history books as symbolic of David Cameron’s political displacement.The message of the crowd was loud and clear: there are heroes in our midst, but you certainly are not one of them; we do not believe the Government is doing enough to support people with disabilities and Osborne is a hypocrite.
Osborne’s public humiliation was followed by a cabinet reshuffle which while keeping him in post left a distinct impression of his Prime-Minister throwing the last dice before the coalition implodes. It says something about the mess the Tory party finds itself that a third runway at Heathrow airport becomes not just the main topic of economic debate, but also a question of political survival-for west London MP’s who will lose their seats if the runway goes ahead, and Boris who clearly relished the prospect of a bruising fight over the issue. As for the Lib-Dems, they surely can’t for long remain partners with a Conservative team that has evidently lurched to the right.
