Tories should start selecting their PPCs earlier than planned

They seriously need to consider this, especially on seats and areas where they are not electing police commissioners this November.

With reports this morning that the Lib Dems will begin selecting candidates on the existing boundaries and it seems Labour is/has been doing the same for sometime now. The Tories, as things stand are in a worst position than the other two parties. They are the larger partner in the coalition government and therefore have more to lose. They also have the most apparent inner fighting in the commons, amongst their grassroot, not to mention a decline in their membership uptake.

All these make now the time to become fully focused in imbedding good local candidates in their most difficult seats, local, because its better faster and potentially less troublesome. Plus experience has shown difficult seats work best with local candidates; it is cost-effective both financially and emotionally. Local PPCs will require less work to adopt and can hit the ground running the day after their selection. Plus, with the current growing sense of localism in the country it will be very unwise to buck the trend and even appear to parachute in handpicked CCHQ chums.

If Cameron et al think, pushing through with the Boundary Change Review regardless of what Nick Clegg, Simon Hughes and every Lib Dem said and alluded to in the past week, then he, Cameron, is no different to Clegg, in covering his ears and crying “I gave you AV now give me Boundary Changes!”

Stubbornness can be good; a one track mind tunnel vision can at times get you far. But sometimes it is best to cut your losses and move on. This is one of these times.

Last parliamentary cycle, by around this time (2007) Tories were ready for Brown to call a snap election. So ready they scared him off calling it, remember? Then the Conservatives were in opposition and hungry for government, now they should still be hungry for government because although they are not outside government, they are only half in!

I understand the strategy was initially to wait until after November when the police commissioner elections are done. Nonetheless, politics should and needs to be fluid. The boundary changes are unlikely to happen now, and in light of that, it will be shortsighted to waste valuable time because “that’ was the plan!