,
5 tweets,
1 min read
Read on Twitter
As the Tory numbers get worse and worse with every poll going into the European elections, I can't help thinking they missed a trick. Instead of contesting so half-heartedly they might as well not have bothered, they could possibly have been better served doing exactly that!
In other words, they could have gone with the narrative: "yes, circumstances forced us to hold the European elections but since we are going to deliver Brexit in short order we do not believe it's in the party's interest to contest them" and sat them out completely.
Pros: puts them on the front foot and might even stop some of the shift to the Brexit Party nationally (GEs matter much more) because it burnishes the Tory Party's Brexit credentials. ("Yes, we're *that* serious about Brexit."). Hard to calculate "real" collapse in support.
Cons
Mighty embarrassing (though maybe less than getting almost no MEPs anyway the hard way?), plus zero say in the European Parliament for as long as MEPs continue to sit.
Mighty embarrassing (though maybe less than getting almost no MEPs anyway the hard way?), plus zero say in the European Parliament for as long as MEPs continue to sit.
Finally, it might have done a better job of keeping the Tory Party together. One massive bust-up at the beginning over the decision not to participate, but there's nothing to argue over afterwards because there are no decisions, no manifesto positions, no strategies, nothing.
