The Conservative Leadership Debate

[9goals2hattricks3pen]

I listened to the 2 TV debates. Despite having said previously on here that 2nd only to a Corbyn Labour Govt I perceived BoJo as PM as a bigger threat than Brexit my vote would go as follows.

I would like Boris to be the next PM (I was for Gove) to get us thro Brexit. Then in the longer term I like Rory Stewart's brand of Conservatism to take us thro the 2020's.

I thought the Channel 4 'show' was badly done but the BBC effort abysmal.

[phild]

That debate was effing awful. The winner of this woeful debate was the Brexit Party

[Leicesterbaggie]

It was appalling, mainly due to the ineptitude of that woman who was in charge. The viewer asked a question then instead of letting the candidates answer she continually interrupted them and then cut them off before they could complete what they wanted to say. It is probably one of the worst political debates, if you can call it that, that I have witnessed. The questionnaires weren't exactly representative either.

[mickd1961]

Asking the public to pose the questions was toe curling especially as you then had the sight of each candidate trying to be their best mate whilst struggling to remember their name.

I chuckled as Boris referred to the imam as “my friend” having lost a grip of his name.

I’d have preferred to have seen each person grilled by Andrew Neil to within an inch of his life.

So the “scores on the doors” then.

1/ Boris......avoided any gaffes and still the favourite due to his ability to fight Corbyn and Farage.

I know our Left Wing friends will deride him as a clown and that’s fine,they don’t want ANY Tory so the one they hate the most will likely be the one they see as the man to keep Comrade Corbyn out.

2/ Gove - An intelligent and engaging chap and I could live with him and he’d tie Corbyn in knots.

3/ Rory - Not in my side of the Brexit divide but an interesting guy who appears to want to tell the truth. He’s a little geeky which might get in the way for some but one for the future post Brexit I think.

4/ Hunt - As dull as an insurance salesman with no personality,a safe pair of hands I would think but not one to get the vote out in the future.

5/ Javid - Should be nailed on with his back story but he’s surprisingly dull as a speaker and I find myself drifting off to sleep as he drones on.

Once Boris wins and can let his exuberance come to the surface again and as long as the cabinet includes the brains like Gove I think things will move on at pace.

A good leader is one who recognises his own weaknesses and appoints the right people to the right jobs.

I think enough wheeling and dealing will have been done to say to Boris....”you’ll get the job you’ve always craved but the leash will get yanked by us if you start to go off piste”.

[albion68]

It was appalling, mainly due to the ineptitude of that woman who was in charge. The viewer asked a question then instead of letting the candidates answer she continually interrupted them and then cut them off before they could complete what they wanted to say. It is probably one of the worst political debates, if you can call it that, that I have witnessed. The questionnaires weren't exactly representative either.

Emily Maitlis was in charge i think that’s how you spell it,awful presenter not got a clue turned it off.

[WBA123]

Asking the public to pose the questions was toe curling especially as you then had the sight of each candidate trying to be their best mate whilst struggling to remember their name.

I chuckled as Boris referred to the imam as “my friend” having lost a grip of his name.

I’d have preferred to have seen each person grilled by Andrew Neil to within an inch of his life.

So the “scores on the doors” then.

1/ Boris......avoided any gaffes and still the favourite due to his ability to fight Corbyn and Farage.

I know our Left Wing friends will deride him as a clown and that’s fine,they don’t want ANY Tory so the one they hate the most will likely be the one they see as the man to keep Comrade Corbyn out.

2/ Gove - An intelligent and engaging chap and I could live with him and he’d tie Corbyn in knots.

3/ Rory - Not in my side of the Brexit divide but an interesting guy who appears to want to tell the truth. He’s a little geeky which might get in the way for some but one for the future post Brexit I think.

4/ Hunt - As dull as an insurance salesman with no personality,a safe pair of hands I would think but not one to get the vote out in the future.

5/ Javid - Should be nailed on with his back story but he’s surprisingly dull as a speaker and I find myself drifting off to sleep as he drones on.

Once Boris wins and can let his exuberance come to the surface again and as long as the cabinet includes the brains like Gove I think things will move on at pace.

A good leader is one who recognises his own weaknesses and appoints the right people to the right jobs.

I think enough wheeling and dealing will have been done to say to Boris....”you’ll get the job you’ve always craved but the leash will get yanked by us if you start to go off piste”.

I didn't watch it, but by all accounts it was a bit farcical?

Interesting you say that about Johnson being most likely to keep Corbyn out. Most Labour voters I know are not lefty fanatics..the party is heading that way though because of their leadership. Most Labour voters are centralists or sit centre-left and many float between Tory and Labour. Johnson will appeal to Brexiteers and Brexit Party voters. But Rory Stewart would probably be the one who would appeal to most floating voters. Politics is clearly changing now with the emergence of the Brexit Party and Lib Dems.

Stewart is also the most realistic of the candidates regards our current situation. But I really don't know what any of their plans are. The EU won't renegotiate the deal - Stewart recognises that. But No Deal won't get through parliament. So how do we break the deadlock?

Seems to me all of them, especially Johnson and apart from Stewart, are just saying things they think people want to hear. There is no clear, concise plan of how to negotiate an orderly Brexit without severely damaging the economy, which will get voted through by parliament.

Which is why we are in a political deadlock. None of these candidates have shown a solution to this.

[WBA53]

Car crash of a debate with no clarity on any issues,fwiw I think Stewart although having a realistic view to all the different debates offered nothing as an alternative approach but would probably be OK as pm after brexit is finally put to bed.whoever gets the gig this time around will still be head and shoulders above anything labour and comrade corbyn are offering with their version of soft brexit,a brexit from a leavers point of view where we would have been better off not bothering with it in the first place

[Yarmbaggie]

Have to say I thought the debate was awful. Switched it off well before half time.

[Leicesterbaggie]

Further to my previous post on the subject of the choice of the individuals asking the questions. It has now come to light that the Iman who spoke has now been suspended from the school where he is Deputy Head because of anti- Semitic tweets. Of course the BBC make their usual excuses that if they had known they wouldn't have chosen him. Who did they employ to do these investigations, some 'spotty' youth or worse, were they aware and did nothing about it? Why do we pay a TV licence to this company who can't manage a simple task like that? As I said before, the debate was appalling led by an ineffectual host and this compounds it.

[mickd1961]

The Imam was very obviously chosen to attack Boris.

Rather than be so pathetically obvious the BBC would’ve been better served getting an 80 year old white person asking the
question.

To now find he’s previously tweeted anti Jewish comment whilst deputy head of a Gloucester school is unbelievable.......the education authority in his area should’ve been aware of this and sacked him previously.

The questioners were so “passé”.

Old white former conservative now voting Brexit Party.

Fat,ginger,15 year old Scottish girl on climate change.

Woman with speech impediment wailing on about the future being “destroyed” for her three children.

Having a parent with that attitude is enough to restrict your life chances.

The Imam asking about “the damage that words can do” when he himself posts anti Jewish comment.

This contest needs Andrew Neil one on one with each candidate,last nights fiasco was style over substance.

More interest in the set and those stupid stools than the contents and Emily Maitlis interrupting answers every 5-6 seconds.

Richie Benaud and Michael Parkinson always explained that silence is a very important part of interviewing and commentary.......Maitlis didn’t leave enough space in which a candidate could hang themselves.

On the plus side.

I had a bit of a “semi” seeing her in that figure hugging dress but that in itself says a lot about the actual debate.