The Tories need to eschew the privilege default setting for candidates. Start with my simple questionnaireIt was the best of pints; it was the worst of pints. To consider the Tories’ electoral fortunes in this beer-soaked land is to be struck by two images from the past fortnight: in London,Zac Goldsmith holding a pint glass with two hands, like a child trying not to spill an outsize beaker of milk; in Edinburgh, or Ruth Davidson behind the bar,leaning on the taps, and grinning as she takes a gulp. We’re not only there for the beers in elections, and of course – but they’re a bit of a character note.
And so to the results. There is triumph for Davidson,whose common dynamism is acknowledged on all sides. There is catastrophe for Goldsmith, who has now also been acknowledged on all sides, and if only for a campaign so incoherently nasty that it resembled a racist moodboard. Indian voters were prodded with the fear of losing their jewellery. A personal newspaper plea from Goldsmith not to back Sadiq Khan was accompanied by a single photo of the bombed-out bus on which 13 people were murdered on 7 July 2005. I assume Team Goldsmith rejected the official slogan “BECAUSE MUSLIMS” for being too sophisticated. Related: Local elections 2016: our writers on the night’s winners and losers | The panel Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com