David Cameron will be returned to Downing Street as the leader of a Conservative government with a very small majority, former Tory minister turned Strictly Come Dancing contestant Ann Widdecombe predicted at a business event in the region last night.
That, she said, could pave the way for the new government to repeal the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, allowing the Prime Minister to call a second General Election to secure larger, more workable, majority.
Bath-born Ms Widdecombe, speaking at the ICAEW West of England Annual Dinner in Bristol, also described the SNP as “dangerous”, UKIP as “an aggravating factor” and tipped Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond as a potential future Chancellor of the Exchequer.
In a wide-ranging speech and question-and-answer session with guests, the former Shadow Home Secretary and Shadow Health Secretary drew on her experience as a senior politician in government and opposition to give an overview of the General Election campaign and its likely outcome in two weeks’ time.
“I always say forget the opinion polls and look at the bookies,” she said. “They are rarely wrong because they stand to lose a lot of money.”
However, while they were predicting a minority Tory administration, she firmly believes he party will do better and form a majority government – albeit with a very small majority.
But that, she said, could also cause problems and lead to constant “wheeling and dealing”.
“Everyone says John Major was weak and Mrs Thatcher was strong. But she had a majority that enabled her to be strong. Major had a tiny majority and found it hard to do anything,” she said.
She hated coalitions but understood why David Cameron formed one following the 2010 election which brought about a hung Parliament.
“They break the link between what you vote for and what you get,” she said. “But he had to do it because the markets would have been against a minority government in 2010.”
In typically robust fashion, the former prisons minister dismissed the current campaigns of the main parties as “a massive exercise in PR”. She added: “There will be meetings in Tory HQ where they are saying ‘Shall we Boris, or not Boris?’”
She also said politicians from all three main parties were shying away from addressing the real problems concerning the big issues such as health, education, crime and immigration.
In a lively question-and-answer session she was asked whether Strictly had changed her life – “No, but it changed my retirement” – whether she exchanged Christmas cards with former adversary Michael Howard – not since she left the Commons in 2010 – and current drug laws – which she said were not being enforced.
Speaking earlier at the dinner, which was sponsored by regional law firm Thrings and Lloyds Bank and staged at At-Bristol, ICAEW president Arthur Bailey urged the profession in the South West to work with schools and communities to plug a major skills gap in the sector and support future economic growth.
“We are campaigning for work experience to be mandatory in schools and encouraging our members to provide work place experience for disadvantaged young people,” he said.
“Exposure to working life can make all the difference to young people. It’s not just our profession that benefits but the 1.5m businesses we advise.”
Mr Bailey highlighted the success of a number of initiatives that the ICAEW was already involved in, including the BASE competition for schools which runs across the region and is designed to help pupils understand the importance of business strategy and teamwork, as well as Access Accountancy, a scheme which is opening up the profession to those from less privileged backgrounds.
He also reported that 135 accountancy companies in the region had signed up for its Business Advisory Service, volunteering to support start-ups and growing businesses.
Ed Corrigan bowed out as president of ICAEW West of England after his 12 months in office, highlighting that the region’s economy was well placed to thrive due to its highly qualified workforce, the three world class Universities on its doorstep and emerging industries such as hi-tech and creative businesses.
Mr Corrigan will be replaced by Rick Sturge, whose career has included working in director-level strategic and business development roles for the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, Accenture and PwC. He is currently EMEA Vice President of Sales and Marketing at business process management specialists Firstsource.
The ICAEW also announced its continued support of the Quartet Community Foundation, which connects business and personal donors with grassroot community organisations, and £1,600 was raised from a collection at the dinner.
Pictured, from left: ICAEW West of England president Ed Corrigan; Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking South West business development director Paul Harvey, Ann Widdecombe; Thrings managing partner Simon Holdsworth, and Arthur Bailey, ICAEW president
