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Thursday 23rd July 2009Britain's leading conservative blog Today's top ConservativeHome features ToryDiary: David Cameron tells The Sun he is ready to govern, will protect frontline services from the inevitable spending cuts, and warns union leaders not to take him on Michael Merrick on Platform: The contemporary obsession with ‘progressive’ politics nullifies political identity and fuels personality politics Seats and Candidates: The "thinkers" and "policy wonks" of the likely next intake of Conservative MPs Local Government: Lib Dems gain seat from Labour in Kensington and Chelsea WATCH: A full-scale brawl erupts in the South Korean Parliament as the Opposition objects to the Government's new media bill Voting is underway in the Norwich North by-election Cameron and Osborne lead massive polling day operation in Norwich North "Chloe Smith, the high-flying businesswoman fighting a by-election for the Tories in Norwich North, is expected to break several parliamentary records by the end of the day... If elected, the 27-year-old will become the country's youngest MP, supplanting the Liberal Democrat Jo Swinson, 29. Ms Smith will also be the youngest Conservative MP for more than 30 years, and the youngest woman ever to be elected a Conservative MP. She will furthermore be the first MP with the name Chloe." - Independent "Gordon Brown ran up the white flag yesterday - and all but conceded defeat in today's Norwich North by-election." - The Sun NB The votes are being counted tomorrow morning, so we do not expect a result until Friday lunchtime Today's other newslinks Julie Kirkbride may reconsider decision to stand down "Miss Kirkbride announced she would go after a local outcry over her expenses and those of Andrew MacKay, her husband and fellow MP, who is also quitting. But a growing number of activists in her local association in Bromsgrove want her to think again because they believe the 3,300-name petition demanding her resignation was seriously flawed." - Daily Telegraph > May 28th: Julie Kirkbride confirms she is stepping down at the next election Relations between Cameron and Boris supposedly "at breaking point" "Relations between Boris Johnson and his party's leadership have reached breaking point with new and potentially damaging divisions over the mayor's plans for London. Behind the scenes, Tory high command has decided against three specific policy proposals that Johnson has demanded for the party's next election manifesto. The first is Johnson's backing for Crossrail...  The second is Johnson's plan for an estuary airport, and the third is his desire for enhanced mayoral powers." - New Statesman "Relationships with the leadership are really very good" - Boris denies the story to Guardian blogger Dave Hill David Davis: We must retain a nuclear deterrent but should not squander money on upgrading Trident "What we have now is more than enough and certainly does not require an upgrade. We simply have to consider how to keep what we have viable... A more pressing problem is the renewal of the four Vanguard-class submarines... In this era of tight budgets it is evident that we should save the £20bn on an upgrade and make the Trident system last. The debate should be not about that, but about whether in this era of diffuse, lower-grade threat, we should save billions more by having three, not four, boats." David Davis writing in the FT Tory frontbencher at odds with party line on Heathrow "A Tory frontbencher who said his party would “revisit” its opposition to a third Heathrow runway after the election was sharply contradicted today. David Cameron has made scrapping the plan a key part of his transport policy, warning firms not to invest in the project. But Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, a Tory international trade and development spokesman, said he was “fully aware of the potential damage this might do to Britain’s international air travel”. - The Times Welsh Tories clash over plan to prioritise women and ethnic candidates "Tory plans to attract more women and ethnic minority candidates were attacked by one of the party’s key parliamentary hopefuls in North Wales as “ill thought out, 10 years out of date and undemocratic”. Guto Bebb, who aims to be elected to the Commons as representative for Aberconwy, rejected proposals by Conservative Assembly leader Nick Bourne as “lacking in intellectual rigour”." - Daily Post > Sunday's Seats and Candidates post: Nick Bourne gives priority to women and ethnic minority candidates for 2011 elections to Welsh Assembly Jeremy Hunt attacks BBC over rising expenditure on imported shows "The Tories have criticised the BBC for increasing the amount it spends on imported shows while cutting the budget of children's programming and expenditure in the nations and regions. Jeremy Hunt, the shadow culture secretary, accused the broadcaster of "switching investment" from public service genres – such as children's and regional programming – where there was less competition from commercial broadcasters to entertainment where there was "already plenty of choice". - Guardian Anne McElvoy: Will the Tories attack the ‘bloated’ BBC? "Over the past year, the Tory leader has established his own modus operandi with the Corporation, which is to hug it one minute and kick it the next. ‘It’s a bit like being in an abusive relationship where you never know if you’re going to get a kick or a bunch of flowers,’ says one senior White City figure. Sometimes it’s both at once." - Anne McElvoy writing in The Spectator Tories pledge free gig tickets for troops "Britain's war heroes will get into top sports matches and concerts free in a historic deal organised by Tory leader David Cameron. Tickets for Troops, unveiled exclusively in The Sun, will let the country say thanks to Our Boys and Girls." - The Sun Today's anti-Tory smear from the Mirror: "Tories want to charge sick for hospital food" "The Tories are planning to make hospital patients pay for meals. The secret move is one of the proposals being discussed by Tory chief David Cameron and is listed in a letter briefing business bosses... Mr Cameron's spokesman said last night: "This is complete rubbish." - Daily Mirror > Yesterday's ToryDiary: Tories will NOT introduce co-payments for NHS Murdo Fraser repeats calls for portrait of the Queen at the Scottish Parliament "A portrait of the Queen should be displayed in Holyrood, Scottish Conservatives have said. The party's deputy leader Murdo Fraser said such a portrait would show MSPs' respect for the Queen." - The Scotsman > Parliament post in April: Murdo Fraser calls for portrait of the Queen in Scottish Parliament Darren Gough goes into bat for the Tories "Selby's cricket-loving parliamentary candidate Nigel Adams has bowled his political rivals a bouncer ... with the help of ex-England star Darren Gough! For the former fast bowler and Strictly Come Dancing hero has created a video supporting his friend in his quest to win the Selby and Ainsty seat at the next General Election." - Selby Times > WATCH: Former England cricketer Darren Gough reveals himself to have been a Conservative supporter since his teens Toby Young: The secret behind the Bullingdon posturing of David and Boris "The reason they paraded around in tailcoats, empty champagne bottles strewn in their wake, was not because they didn't care what ordinary people thought of them. On the contrary, they were playing up to people's prejudices about what people from privileged backgrounds were like - and revelling in the attention it brought them. - Toby Young writing in the Daily Mail > Yesterday's ToryDiary: Channel 4 plans autumn docu-drama on David Cameron's Bullingdon Club days Brighton bomber to be invited to 25th anniversary commemoration of the atrocity - Daily Mail Unite demands union recognition at FSA - Telegraph