So what if Clegg was a Tory?
Firstly, being a member of another party does not preclude you from later joining another party, or even becoming leader. Its well documented that Vince Cable was once a member of the Labour Party, we don’t complain about that. His actions have shown him to be a liberal.
Famously Gladstone was a Tory, a high Tory at that, but he reconsidered his views and became a robust liberal, becoming one of the greatest Liberals ever.
Churchill went hither and thither, being a Tory then a Liberal minister and finally becoming Tory leader. Such switching is surely greater cause for concern.
Secondly, I doubt many people enter University with a fully formed set of political views. The only people I knew who had were arrogant Tory boys and fervent socialists. (I myself had a strange fusion of conservatism and socialism as loosely held beliefs, with some unrecognised liberalism emerging - it wasn’t until my third year that I started developing any political beliefs)
Even if Clegg was once a Tory boy (an unlikely situation), he certainly is not now, and has not been for a long time, so that would have little bearing on his liberal credentials.
If Clegg was a member of the CUCU, then so what? The allegation is that he was a member for one year. He obviously didn’t take any massive part in the society and he didn’t renew his membership. Hardly signs of dedication to the Tory party.
In my experience people join all sorts of societies in Fresher’s Week. People then take part sporadically in those societies and let their memberships lapse.
I suppose some will try to make a lot of this. Clegg may have backed himself into a corner as well. I’m sure the so-called radicals will be crowing about how Clegg is an evil ‘Orange Booker’ and a secret Tory too…
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April 15th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Agreed; I was a member of the Italian Society at university and I (unfortuantely or maybe fortunately given they’ve just voted in Berlusconi again) not Italian….
April 15th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
My issue is not that he was a member of CUCA but that he has categorically denied it. Either he’s telling the truth and there is a grand conspiracy out there to undermine him, or he’s being an idiot. The jury is out as to which it is.
April 15th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
James Graham, the third option is that somebody (not a grand conspiracy, but just one person) listed him as a member of CUCA in his student time without his consent.
April 19th, 2008 at 12:19 am
I tend to agree with James. I neither know nor care what he was a member off in his university days (like many members of my Lib Dem student group I was was member of the Labour club for a year because they had better speakers)
What troubles me is the emphatic denial given the difficulty of remebering that far back and the possibility he was signed up against hiswill/with no knowledge.