[A-List] UK state: political realignment

["Michael Keaney" <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>]

You heard it here first! What could not have been guessed was the complete
lack of attention to history by our would-be new Conservatives. The New
Party? Didn't Oswald Mosley have a go at that already?

What is surprising about this is the relatively paltry media coverage.
There's nothing in the Guardian, Independent or FT websites. Either the
party is priming itself for a spectacular media launch featuring well-known
politicians and celebrity supporters, or it's a few desperate millionaires
who haven't got anyone remotely capable of winning public support to come
aboard. If it's the latter, it's difficult to see how this outfit will
supplant even the likes of the UK Independence Party, which occupies the
rather shady ground between punk Thatcherism and neo-fascism (echoes of
Mosley once again).

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New party all set for launch in capital
MICHAEL SETTLE
The Herald, 16 January 2003

THE launch of what would be Britain's newest political party is all set to
take place in Edinburgh next month.

The decision by the New Party for Britain, which hopes to pick up
Conservative seats in the Scottish parliamentary elections, came as Irvine
Laidlaw, the tycoon, rebuffed a claim that he had threatened to stop
donating funds to the Tory party.

Mark Adams, a consultant advising the new party of "progressive
Conservatives" on media strategy, told The Herald the fledgling group would
seek to put up "as many candidates as possible"on May 1 and that it was
therefore "sensible" to launch in the Scottish capital.

Earlier this month, The Herald revealed that Robert Durward, a Lanarkshire
businessman, was the millionaire behind the new party.

He is thought to have been among backers of the new party, who met in London
yesterday to draw up a campaign strategy. Their prime target is
disillusioned Tory voters.

Irvine Laidlaw, reputed to be Scotland's richest man with a fortune of
£750m, said in a statement yesterday: "There is no truth at all in the
allegations that I have issued some kind of threat or ultimatum to withdraw
funding from the Conservative party."

However one Tory party source had been quoted as saying: "If the party
doesn't do well, Laidlaw has said he will spend his money on other things."