A balanced portfolio...

a one club golfer as Ted Heath used to say...

I have always had a lot of time for Greg Clark MP. He is a passionate environmentalist but pragmatic too and has a reputation for being a hardworking MP.

For my money, his analysis of the situation the Conservative Party finds itself in as reported on the Conservative Home website today is spot on too;

“Most of you here will be familiar with the brilliant Conservative Home website. Its front page features a series of shields, each of which represents an important area of public policy. In the early days of the site, Tim Montgomerie commissioned a piece of artwork [above], designed to illustrate the fact that we had, as a party, abandoned many of these areas to the Left. [As you can see] the artist shows this in the form of shields missing from a wall, keys missing from a typewriter, and a window that only lets in a crack of light. In the last four years this picture has been transformed. There are no no-go areas for the Conservative Party. On social justice, the environment, international development and public services we have something important to say. By addressing the concerns of the whole nation, we’ve become the most trusted party on issues like health and education: a fact that doesn’t dilute, but rather
enhances, our message on issues like crime and immigration.”

I think with the benefit of hindsight, future historians and political academics will marvel at why Hague & Howard fought general elections around 'core issues' to get the 'core vote' out. The trouble is, there are not enough 'core voters' for the Conservative Party to win; it is a truism that elections are fought and won on a range of issues, a fact Margaret Thatcher understood well and many of her most fervent admirers did not!!!

The fact is in politics, like investments, you need a balanced portfolio.