The phrase ‘I am a critical friend of the government/the Mayor/the council/etc’ must be one of the most overused in modern politics. It is rarely more than 50% accurate: those who use this descriptor of themselves are usually either a) not in the slightest bit critical, but trying to convince themselves that they are; or b) not in the slightest bit friendly, but trying to convince the government/Mayor/council/etc that they are.
I think that it is safe to say that the Conservative group on the London Assembly falls clearly into the former category. This is despite the protestations made to the contrary by Havering & Redbridge AM Roger Evans in this article which he wrote for ConservativeHome yesterday, discussing the group’s role under the Boris Johnson mayoralty. In fact, the article’s title, ‘Opposing the Opposition’ gives a better insight into the mindset of the Assembly Tories than the assertion that
The key themes [for the group] are support without becoming enslaved to the executive, friendly criticism without being destructive.
It is worth picking apart a few strands of the article, as it gives some insight into how many back-bench members of governing parties (and, to be fair, not just Conservatives) quickly begin to deceive (more…)
