Events | 2009.03.15
Hugh Muir's diary
Choosing a political leader is the easy part. Much more difficult to choose his friends
Strange goings on at Oxford University where the Conservative Association has been choosing a new leader. Look at the website and there are the pictures of heroes past and present; Winston, Supermac, the blessed Margaret. No small event this. Who knows, one day we may see Alexander Elias up there, for last week he won the presidency elections. The son of Jennie Elias, one of the national party treasurers, he definitely has the pedigree. But he may want to begin his tenure by smoothing a few ruffled feathers. A competitor was Josefin Malmqvist, already a name in the party (she\'s association secretary), and someone well regarded - but perhaps not by the scamp who posted grave and scurrilous claims about her on an internet forum. Who was that? The name "urbanfox" was used. So was it a rival? Definitely not, we are told by central office. It was Leon Foong, another student but not an OUCA member. He has confessed and he will talk about it. He does. Contrite he is too. Shouldn\'t have done it, he says. Was a bit drunk. Need to apologise. Was it anything to do with the election, we ask him. Not at all, he says. Does he know Malmqvist or Elias? Well, he "did know Alex briefly", he admits. And there the matter rests. He seems nice and so we don\'t know what to think of the Wikipedia entry about Enchanté, a beverage of Malaysian origin marketed in the UK "by two Oxford University students, Leon Sing Foong (son of Datuk Dr Foong, chairman of the Malaysian manufacturer of Enchanté) and Alexander Elias (son of Conservative politician Jennie Elias)". Perhaps the new president can make sense of it all, starting with a Google search that throws up a review of Enchanté from 2007; "urbanfox" gave it a value rating of 10 out of 10.
• Turn your talent to teaching, advises the Training and Development Agency for Schools, the body created to "raise standards" by attracting able and committed people to teaching. "The universal language of numbers is ubiquitous," it tells us. "And its applications in the real world are infinitesimal." We hoped they would be infinite, especially now that economics is everyone\'s starter for 10. Everywhere we turn, disappointment.
• More hysteria as the middle-class summer of rage draws closer. Banks, we know, are targets, as are the bankers. The worry now is the neighbours. "Crisis Survivor is strongly advising businesses, including offices and retailers who are situated adjacent to the financial powerhouses, particularly RBS, to reassess their continuity plans and seek expert advice on the practical measures," says the consultancy. And if your name is Goodwin, change it.
• The world moves fast so it will do us good to stop and think about the victims of last month\'s Australian bushfires. The catalyst can be the memorial service at Westminster Abbey on 31 March. Anyone can attend by registering (www.advance.org/bushfire_memorial).
Expect a high-profile affair, with support from Barry Humphries, Danni Minogue, Elle Macpherson et al. The organiser is the author Kathy Lette (left); she will do it well, but worries about her qualifications. "All I\'ve ever organised before is a whipped cream orgy and Salman Rushdie\'s all-girl stag night starring Puppetry of the Penis!" she says. The principles are the same.
• Finally, people are concerned about the fate of Matt Crawford, the Archers character who is under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office. "Left to bourgeois justice there must be every chance that corrupt fraudster Matt Crawford will escape justice for his crimes against the people," warns the Ambridge Socialist bulletin. "We say that he should face a people\'s tribunal consisting of Lynda Snell, Eddie Grundy and Jazzer, which can decide on his fate and that of his co-conspirators." Another victory for the anarchy that is the court of public opinion. Are you happy, Harriet? Hope you are happy.
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/[...]xford-university-conservatives
