Guido Fawkes is one of Britain’s most widely read political bloggers. Last month (May2010) he got 3 million hits. He is a must read for any American conservative who wants to keep in touch with UK politics because he is a robust and mischievous destroyer of political and media reputations.
He has often been accused of being a Tory since he delights in deflating pompous and opinionated Labour and Lib Dem politicians and their servile groupies in the BBC, The Guardian and other self righteous organs of the chattering classes. In truth, however, he describes himself as a Libertarian and is equally happy sticking the knife into errant right wingers.
He is a scurrilous rascal with a colourful history and rather jagged at the edges but he is insightful as well as entertaining and always willing to go rogue – which is probably why he is the only leading UK blogger to take an interest in Sarah Palin…..
A flurry of articles this morning have picked up on Sarah Palin’s very excitable Facebook declaration that she was coming to London meet “one of my political heroines, the “Iron Lady,” Margaret Thatcher.” The Guardian is predictably sneering. The Mail on Sunday had the scoop first and raised the question of whether Cameron would meet the former Vice-Presidential nominee and potential Presidential candidate of the American sister party.
Guido, like any gossip, takes great delight in seeing who gets splashed when this particularly heavy stone gets lobbed into the UK political/media pond especially as his sources might be indicating an October visit – slap bang in the middle of the Conservative Party Conference
In Downing Street you can imagine the battle lines being drawn already. This is the stuff that Steve Hilton’s nightmares are made of, yet Palin has an obvious glitzy appeal to the right of the party and tabloid media, something Andy Coulson will know instinctively. As PM it would be extremely discourteous for Dave not to meet and be photographed with Palin if she was in town, a courtesy British PMs have extended to lesser known American politicians.
Hilton is Cameron’s Director of Strategy, rather lofty and the archetypal blue sky thinker. Coulson is Director of Communications, more concerned with tactics, a street fighter never unwilling to strike a low blow for a right cause, a former tabloid editor……
The timing might also be interesting seeing it could well link up with the activities of a certain British pol much admired by Glenn Beck
Guido’s transatlantic sources indicate that she could be over on this side of the pond in the autumn, perhaps around the time of Conservative Party conference, just when Dan Hannan and Douglas Carswell will be launching their Direct Democracy version of the American Tea Party movement.
…and if Hannan and Carswell were minded to invite a certain lady who happens to be popular with American Tea Partiers to address their meeting how many people would be trying to get into that room……mmmmm….
As Guido himself might well say – the plot thickens……
