On the Scene: Small Earthquake in Westminster

London

ON ELECTION day for the leadership of the Conservative Party (Tuesday, July 4) the Sun newspaper asked: “How do you tell if a Tory MP is lying?” It answered, “See if his lips move.” The lips were moving again after the result was announced— 218 votes for Prime Minister John Major; 89 votes for the challenger, John Redwood, and 22 abstentions or spoiled ballot papers. Mr. Major called it a “very clear-cut decision” in his favor and said that “the time for division” was over. Cabinet ministers jostled to find a television camera so as to declare their ecstasy at the result and make stern calls for unity. Backbenchers assured anyone who would listen that they had been Major loyalists all along.

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Robin Harris

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British Conservative Party

ON ELECTION day for the leadership of the Conservative Party (Tuesday, July 4) the Sun newspaper asked: “How do you tell if a Tory MP is lying?” It answered, “See if his lips move.” The lips were moving again after the result was announced— 218 votes for Prime Minister John Major; 89 votes for the challenger, John Redwood, and 22 abstentions or spoiled ballot papers. Mr. Major called it a “very clear-cut decision” in his favor and said that “the time for division” was over. Cabinet ministers jostled to find a television camera so as to declare their ecstasy at the result and make stern calls for unity. Backbenchers assured anyone who would listen that they had been Major loyalists all along.