Stalinism at the Finchley Conservatives - it would break Lady Thatchers heart

Some people are just plain ungrateful. Whilst looking at a few local websites yesterday, I happened to notice that the Finchley and Golders Green Conservatives were running a poll on their website. Sadly as that particular websites primary use is to cure insomnia, their poll had only had 12 people casting a vote. Now as the Barnet eye gets thousands of hits I thought I'd help them out. I carefully checked the page to see if "only Conservatives need apply". Nope, in true democratic style anyone could vote. The two questions which interested me were "which party will you vote for" and "who would be the best Prime Minister". Now even before I publicised it, taking into account the person who set it up had probably voted, The Tories were not winning on either count for the popular public vote. As a good neighbourly act, I posted a little blog asking all of my thousands of readers to take a little trip over and vote.

Now as you may recall, David Cameron made a direct appeal to Lib Dem voters to check out the Conservatives and their policies. You would think that in light of this, the local Conservatives would be over the moon at a Local Lib Dem Council candidate urging readers of his blog to visit the Conservatives website and cast votes in their polls. You would think that they'd think their website was so superbly marvellous that Lib dems would instantly see the light and jump on the "Cam Train".

Sadly, as we've often said here, the local Conservatives have rather Stalinist tendencies. In Stalins time in the Soviet Union, elections were held. Everyone had to vote but there was only one candidate, so Uncle Joe always got the "right answer". In those days, the great Conservative Prime Minister, Winston Churchill used to deride this anti-democratic behaviour. He was a stalwart fighter of rigged polls, bogus elections and dodgy practices. He knew democracy was the way. A former MP for Finchley, Lady Thatcher, lead the fight against the USSR and played a major role in transforming the country into a democracy. As the most famous person, let alone politician ever to be associated with Finchley, Thatcher hated rigged polls with a passion.

Cut forward to the Finchley Conservatives in the year 2010. What happened when their little poll, which didn't say "Only Conservatives need vote" started to receive a popular vote from the readers of the Barnet Eye (many of whom happen to be Conservatives). They removed the poll from their website. What does this tell us about the Finchely Conservatives? Are the current mob the true successors to that champion of democracy, Lady Thatcher? Do they have the backbone for a fight for their principles? One would rather hope that having put their polls up, they'd have at least sent an email around to their activists and tried to rally to the cause. I wonder what David Cameron and the Conservative Central Headquarters would make of this cowardice? It is a sad indictment of the level of support in a key marginal,which David Cameron visited not too long ago.

Lady Thatcher had a way of describing cowardly opponents who used to scurry away when she waved her handbag at them "Too Frit" she pronounced. I rather hope that she hasn't been looking too closely at what her Tory successors have been up to. I wouldn't want to upset the poor old dear, it would break her heart.