JOHN MCLELLAN
Theresa May’s chipper mood in Aberdeen may be a sign a Brexit agreement is imminent, writes John Mclellan
With Sajid Javid and Michael Gove on the speaking bill, the morning after a dreadful night at the English council elections, and Boris Johnson hovering around somewhere in Aberdeenshire, it was inevitable this weekend’s Scottish Conservative Party conference would be framed as a trial- run for the leadership battle to come.
The chill wasn’t just blowing in from the North Sea as Home Secretary Javid got to the podium, describing the English council election results as a disappointment, but by the time he finished it was a lot more than that. Expectation management was in full swing on Thursday night, with talk of losing 1,000 sets designed to make the loss of 500 seem like an achievement, but by the time the Prime Minster spoke at 4pm the worst predictions were being realised.
Mr Javid had a couple of decent lines about his Scottish links – his uncle has a shop and his customers know him by name ... his name is Naseem but everyone calls him John – and his somewhat methodical One Nation unification message was wellenough received, especially tying Labour and the SNP together as a Socialist- Separatist alliance went down well. “The next election could lock our great party out of power for a generation,” he said, but “it’s at times like this we must not panic and fear the worst,” he continued, fearing the worst.
But if Mr Javid sees himself as a man on the way up, Mrs May didn’t look like a woman who knew the game was finally up. Tee- ed up by her parliamentary secretary, West Aberdeenshire MP Andrew Bowie, there were no heckles as there were in Wales earlier in the day but cheers as the party stood in recognition of Mrs May’s dogged determination and resilience in the face of a morale- sapping conundrum.
There was no mention of carnage in the councils in a surpris
ingly short address, but more emphasis on unity and the need to get a Brexit deal over the line. People wanted the issue resolved and “we have everything it takes to make a success of what lies ahead,” she said.
If Thursday night was bad for English Conservatives, it wasn’t great for Labour and for an opposition to lose ground in mid- term under such chaotic circumstances was extraordinary. Perhaps Mrs May’s relaxed and chipper mood was because there was more to the rumours in the hall that the results have concentrated Labour minds and a Brexit agreement is imminent. We shall see. The faithful in Aberdeen left the hall after Mrs May’s address in better heart than they went in and will expect to be fully motivated by Ruth Davidson’s big speech on delivering services this morning. It’s accepted she is not going to be the next UK party leader, but that the new leader needs to be someone like her. Judging by yesterday, the leadership contest might still be some way off but in the meantime, as Mrs May said, the boss is back.
Captain Flashheart meets Steve Coogan
Whoa, nursey... firm and fruity! Special Forces veteran, Dove soap ad star and Conservative MP Johnny Mercer was working the room in Aberdeen at the eve of conference dinner before the Scottish Conservatives’ annual get- together.
Captain Flashheart meets Steve Coogan, this bundle of touslehaired, shoulder- clapping, superconfident energy was making his first foray north to warm up the early crowd for the main event yesterday and today. It’s fair to say his off- the- cuff talk needed a lot more thought, but like an officer steadying his troops the night before battle, there was a handshake for everyone, as he has done over 100 times at similar party speaking events, and for someone who was unequivocal in ruling out any leadership ambitions, he gave a very good impression of the opposite.
It’s easy to be cynical about naked ambition, but most of those he spoke to, young and old, were glad he’d made the effort and will remember the day they met Captain Mercer. As Bob Monkhouse said, if you can fake sincerity you’ve got it made... that and a lot more preparation for speaking in a very different environment.
A warning for Rod Stewart fans
For committed Scottish Conservatives, all roads led to the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre. Those driving went up the long- awaited bypass and followed the signs for AECC which took them promptly to their destination, or so they thought. The signs point to the as- yet unopened new centre... while the event was taking place at the soon- to- be- demolished old centre at Bridge of Don. Rod Stewart concert- goers on June 12 beware.
A turn to the hard- left in Edinburgh?
A big freeze, rather than a warmup, Edinburgh City Council’s meeting on Thursday morning was a low- key event, with the accent on procedure rather than policy. But the change in housing and economy, with Labour’s Mandy Watt replacing Lezley Cameron as vice- convener, was notable in that it puts a hard- left councillor at the top of the committee with oversight of the most important regional economy in Scotland.
But the Marxist takeover might be short- lived if a reorganisation now under discussion is carried out, with responsibility for economy transferred to the policy and strategy committee to leave housing standing alone. With the administration’s credibility heavily invested in delivering 20,000 new affordable homes in just over seven years, and the council seemingly in denial about the amount of land readily available for development, this might be a wise move.
With employment in Edinburgh up by 2.7 per cent in the past year to 371,300 jobs, it’s tempting to say the city is prospering no matter what the council does, but there is a lot the council can do to slow down growth if it’s not careful.
Four per cent of the economically active population are jobless, a rise of 0.8 per cent, so there is still work to be done. Other changes in the pipeline to the way the council handles planning applications and building warrants can’t come soon enough.