I have never rated Nick Bourne as a party leader, he's too nice, too diplomatic; he doesn't have the killer instinct he's written books about justice and fair play whilst his colleagues have been reading The Prince by Machiavelli.
But I don't understand the fuss about the iPod! Apparently he bought the iPod in order to download Welsh Language lessons. If this is the case then he has my heartiest support. I think that it is absolutely brilliant that the leader of the Conservatives takes Welsh lessons so seriously and I look forward to him using his new found language skills in the chamber.
Like Blog Menai, I am more intrigued by his need for a £5,000 bathroom make over, never having seen a £5000 bathroom myself. But the journalists who see Mr Bourne as this week's meat probably don't appreciate the extravagance, as they probably have £6,000 bathrooms themselves courtesy of the BBC and Trinity Mirror!
The odd thing about the Sack Nick campaign is that it appears to be a campaign lead by reporters rather than by Conservative party members, or Conservative AM's. I find this worrying. The fourth estate has its role in a democracy, but that role shouldn't include campaigning to topple the leader of a political party.
Love Nick or loath him the leadership of the Conservative Party in Wales is the Conservative Party in Wales' prerogative, it must never be put into the hands of either the BBC or the Western Mail.
This is a matter for supporters of other parties too. If the Beeb and the Mule succeed in deciding who will be the Tory leader in Wales, they wont stop there - they will be going for another scalp soon too! As Rhodri is going and Mike has gone, the most likely next victim will be Ieuan Wyn!
I agree in essence with the subject of the post but would disagree that the Sack Nick campaign isn't being engineered by the Conservative AM's. Of course the BBC and WM are going after this, and I am sure they are guilty of crossing the line between reporting and engineering news. But there are certainly more than enough people in the Tory camp happy to brief up against Bourne that are feeding these stories. You have to question why Bourne has become such a target when others are equally guilty of using this money for personal ends if it isn't his own group plotting against him?
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