Johnson mistaken to believe an attack on the old guard will solve his problems
It was Winston Churchill who famously said that in politics you should “never let a good crisis go to waste”. During nearly two years in office, his political hero’s quote has never been far from Boris Johnson’s mind as he has battled to get a grip on a series of emergencies – some pandemic related, others of his own making.
Now, with his hastily announced plans to reform second jobs in Westminster, the Prime Minister appears to have spotted a Churchillian opportunity among the calamitous fallout from the sleaze scandal.
While not the “war on bedblockers” that David Cameron waged on the Tory old guard in the wake of the 2009 expenses scandal, the Prime Minister’s bar on MPS getting paid for being a “parliamentary strategist, adviser or consultant” is undeniably an assault on the traditionalists for the benefit of the modernisers.
It can hardly be coincidence that the very MPS most likely to be affected by his proposed “reasonable limits” cap on outside activities are the “dinosaurs” Downing Street is growing worried about come the next election.
Long before the Owen Paterson saga, Mr Johnson and his team had been voicing concerns not only about the lack of time some “lazy” and “complacent” Tory MPS were spending in their constituencies but also the fact that they were less “recognisable” than some of their Labour rivals.
The Conservatives are now on a drive to “diversify” their pool of potential future MPS, with existing members of the Conservative candidates’ list asked to reapply and newcomers asked to undergo psychometric testing and competencybased interviews. Active campaigners who have already made a name for themselves locally will be prioritised for seats in the first large revamp of the Tories’ candidate selection process for more than a decade.
The chasm between the “old guard” and the new intake of Red Wall MPS has undoubtedly widened over Sleazegate. Never has it been better demonstrated than during Tuesday’s unseemly Commons exchange between Sir Christopher Chope, 74, first elected in 1983, and Alicia Kearns, a Conservative colleague 40 years his junior.
Criticising Sir Christopher’s objection to a motion to endorse the investigation into Mr Paterson and disband the committee set up to review how MPS are regulated, Ms Kearns, the MP for Rutland & Melton, pleaded: “We have had almost four-and-a-half hours of debate on this issue. Do our constituents not deserve us to focus on actually delivering on those promises we made to them and
‘The chasm between the old guard and new Red Wall MPS has widened over Sleazegate’
the things that matter to them?” When Sir Christopher quite pompously told her that she “hasn’t applied her mind to the principal issue”, Ms Kearns rolled her eyes and threw her hands in the air in frustration.
Hours later, the mother-of-two was among a group of MPS from the 2019 intake who met Mr Johnson to discuss their concerns.
While a caucus of Teesside MPS complained that the Government was spending too much time on sleaze rather than the migrant crisis that is of far greater concern to their constituents, another apparently complained directly to the PM: “You keep on making me go back to my patch to defend the indefensible.”
Pointing out that an MP’S annual salary of £81,932 was “a huge amount of money to people in places like Stockport and Hartlepool”, the MP spoke for many when he said the idea of MPS having second jobs was wildly unpopular with voters in the Midlands and the North – hence their rebellion over the bungled attempt to keep Mr Paterson in his post.
The return to No 10 of Ben Gascoigne, Mr Johnson’s well-liked aide, as his new deputy chief of staff has helped to ameliorate Red Wallers, who think he is “the only person in Downing Street who really gets it”.
Yet Mr Johnson is mistaken if he thinks an “out with the old, in with the new” strategy will solve his mounting problems.