CONSCIENCE OF THE PARTY:

Redwood: The intellectual maverick who kept Thatcherism alive (Nigel Morris, 13 August 2007, Independent)

No one has been more active than John Redwood in keeping the Thatcherite flame burning within Tory ranks. Successive leaders of the opposition have been unsure how best to use his intellectual rigour.

David Cameron's solution was to tell him to think radically as co-chairman of a policy review group on economic competitiveness.

The differences in outlook between the men came to the fore at last year's party conference when Mr Redwood was among critics calling for tax cuts, forcing Mr Cameron to insist he would not be "pushed around".

Since then a mutual respect appears to have grown between them - and the Conservative leader has warmly welcomed Mr Redwood's proposals. It remains to be seen whether he would relish the clashes with the unions, the EU and the BBC that could flow from them.

An Anglospheric leader who isn't running against taxes, unions, transnationalists and the bureaucracy isn't trying.

Posted by Orrin Judd at August 13, 2007 8:01 AM