Letters From A Tory Daily views on British politics and the Conservative Party from a centre-right thinker who writes letters on his blog to politicians, journalists and many others.

Dear Alex Hilton,
One wonders whether a lack of intelligence is a pre-requisite for wanting to join the Labour Party, given the dearth of talent in the Cabinet and among the parliamentary party.  It seems as though the same question may apply to prospective parliamentary candidates like yourself as well.  Yesterday you admitted that you had created [...]

Dear readers,
Yet again, this Labour meltdown produces correspondence that tops anything I can produce on this blog.  The Mail on Sunday has published emails sent by Peter Mandelson to Derek Draper last year before Mandy returned to the Cabinet, explaining what he really thinks about Gordon Brown.  Sit back and enjoy the article….
“Peter Mandelson’s claim [...]

BBC website, Monday 13th April: Gordon Brown does not have to say sorry for e-mails sent by his adviser that discussed smearing senior Tories, Health Secretary Alan Johnson has said. “Gordon Brown had nothing to do with this. You apologise for the things you are responsible for.”
BBC website, Thursday 16th April: Prime Minister Gordon Brown [...]

From the News of the World:

SMEAR ONE . . . a story that Conservative leader David Cameron has an embarrassing medical condition.

SMEAR TWO . . . a vicious triple attack on Shadow Chancellor George Osborne. It suggests he had sex and took drugs with a prostitute, that his wife is “emotionally fragile” and that [...]

From the Guardian in 2007:
Nicknamed ‘Damien McPoison’ by lobby journalists, he is one of Whitehall’s most aggressive operators. Another former communications head at the Treasury and now, technically, a special adviser, McBride adopts an old-school approach to PR, frequently enjoying long, boozy lunches with influential journalists.
‘He is very good at what he does, and they [...]

Dear Derek Draper,
I do worry about you.  After having been told to shut up by Andrew Neil on the BBC Daily Politics Show, shortly followed by interrupting others and going off topic on Channel 4 News, I fear that your professional integrity is at risk.  What’s more, your suggestion that Dan Hannan’s response to Gordon Brown [...]

“You don’t keep a dog and bark yourself. That is the point of a wife.”
- Derek Draper’s explanation to his wife Kate Garraway, who is pregnant again, whenever she asks him to cook a meal (reported in today’s Sun)

Dear Guido Fawkes,
It was fascinating to read your attack on Twitter yesterday, following Rachel Sylvester’s article in the Times.  You stated that “the idea that it is some kind of revolutionary form of social media interaction is laughable” and proceeded to make the case against what you described as “political Twittery”.  While I largely agree [...]

Dear Derek Draper,
I do worry about you.  You obviously had no idea what life in the blogosphere was like before you decided to blindly walk into it.  Your recent string of spats with Guido and Iain Dale have proved most undignifying and I think it’s fair to say that the majority of bloggers and blog [...]