Oliver Dowden: there’s no success like failure
Oliver Dowden is currently the Deputy Prime Minister, a post that does not officially
exist, which is entirely appropriate
Dowden has nasty right-wing politics but these are invariably trumped by the
bigger reality that he is an idiot.
He appears on Kuenssberg on Sunday morning from time to time to ‘defend’ the Tory line. A recent visit saw him declaring that Tory bigot Lee Anderson could have remained as a Tory MP if he had apologised for making Islamophobic remarks, while he felt only very slightly concerned about similar
views expressed by Truss and Braverman. Former Tory Co-Chair Sayeeda Warsi
tweeted that Dowden’s comments were ‘mealy mouthed’ amounting to an acceptance
that Islamophobia is OK in the Tory Party.
On April 7th he claimed that selling arms to Israel wasnt illegal even though it became clear that he didnt know what the actual legal advice was (Dave Cameron’s dept)and defended now ex-Tory sex pest William Wragg
Dowden has form
When he was Culture Minister (February 2020-September 2021) Oliver Dowden
opined on his then favourite subject-culture wars. He wrote in the Sunday
Telegraph (16.5.21) that he was not a Maoist but a Moreist.
By this he meant (he claimed) that he was in favour of more statues not less
and more history. Dowden’s statements are sometimes amusing. There seem to have
been very few (if any)statues erected on his watch any more than, despite his
insistence, there was any great move to take statues down. Further the ‘more
history’ Dowden wanted most definitely does not include any more detail about
British imperial activities.
Dowden also noted that he believed that museums and cultural institutions
should be free of Government meddling and to make sure he set up a committee
to, er, well meddle. Its primary purpose was to promote Dowden’s Moreist
perspective.
He purged the wrong kind of person from Trustee Boards. Indeed so blatant
was he that Charles Dunstone, who is believed to be not unfavourable to the
Tory Party, resigned as Chair of the Royal Museums, Greenwich in protest.
In one of many Tory re-shuffles Dowden was replaced as Culture Minister by
Nadine Dorries and he then became Chair of the Tory Party (September 2021-June
2022) In this role he produced a range of baffling waffle although in context
this was during the latter days of the Johnson Premiership.
He was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 25th October
2022. He has certainly cultivated the Tory Hard Right particularly when he was
Culture Minister but his Ministerial career suggests someone promoted far
beyond his competence who can only last for a limited period in any role before the sack
occurs.
He faced Angela Rayner at PMQs on 24th April and John Crace’s analysis of his performance is here:
With luck and determination a pending General Election may mean he
has to look for his next job outside of Parliament even though his Hertsmere
seat appeared until recent Tory polling to be a safe one
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