Tory chair says she won't "go easy" on Davey and Cable at election (From Your Local Guardian)

Tory chair says she won't "go easy" on Davey and Cable at election

4:56pm Thursday 9th February 2012 in Kingston Exclusive By David Lindsell

Tory co-chairman Baroness Warsi has said her party will not go easy on cabinet colleagues Ed Davey and Vince Cable at the next general election.

The cabinet member visited the Surrey Comet office this afternoon to lend her support to Boris Johnson before this summer’s elections for London Mayor.

She claimed the Liberal Democrats, couldn’t win the mayoral election and told Lib Dem voters opposed to Ken Livingstone to vote Tory in May.

“It’s not my job to go easy on the Lib Dems. It’s my job to go out and fight every seat,” she said.

Commenting on Vince Cable’s Twickenham parliamentary seat, which is due to be carved up and could become a marginal seat by the next general election, Baroness Warsi said: “This seat is splitting isn’t it.

“There’s an interesting way in how this part of the country is going to end up.

Of course there are certain appeals that have gone into the Boundary Commission and we will know later on this year how the land will lie here and once we know that I think there will be seats around this area that will be targeted.”

Ed Davey’s seat of Kingston and Surbiton is also set to change, losing New Malden but gaining north Kingston.

Of her new Cabinet colleague, appointed energy secretary on Friday, she said: “I met him at just before cabinet on Tuesday,the first time I’ve met him as a cabinet colleague, and we were giving him some playful tips about cabinet before we went in and he’s a welcome addition.”

She refused to take sides on Mr Davey’s spat with Conservative backbenchers over wind farms saying: “I’m not aware of the details of the debate they’re having but he will bring the matter to a cabinet committee, the cabinet committee will then report back into the cabinet, the cabinet will then make a decision on the policy and we are all collectively bound by that decision.”

Baroness Warsi said there was no long-term damage caused by Daily Telegraph sting last year which caught both Vince Cable and Ed Davey on tape criticising Government policy to reporters.

She said: “If by the time you’re in cabinet you haven’t grown up enough to kind of move on from those things and I think, if anything, Vince said he deeply regrets what he did and it doesn’t make him look particularly good but that’s a matter for him to deal with.

“I don’t think then cabinet colleagues go away and think I can’t work with you.”

Of Chris Huhne, who was replaced by Ed Davey, she denied she was personally happy to see him go but she said: "What happened [during the Alternative Vote referendum] is Chris’s attacks on me were personal.

"My attacks on the Lib Dem were based upon policy.

“For him to resort to what was a personal attack on me and many others in the end in many ways cost them the referendum.”

Of her Tory colleague Zac Goldsmith, MP for Richmond Park, she was much more effusive, saying: “I think Zac is a great guy.

"I’ve known him for many, many years and he is one of the guys I would consider to be a great friend.

"We talk about lots of things other than politics.

“Of course we have a great mutual friend in Imran [Khan, former cricketer and politician].

"With Zac you will find across political parties he is seen as a thoroughly decent and committed politician.”

This week she sent a letter to all councils asking them to freeze their council tax but fellow Tories at Surrey County Council ignored her advice.

Surrey residents’ bills are set to rise by about £38 for a typical household when the authority puts its council tax up.

Baroness Warsi said: "I think that at a time when people are feeling the pinch in their pockets and people are finding it difficult to make ends meet anything the government can do to help with the cost of living is a positive thing.

“Council tax bills which have gone up astronomical rates over the last decade have been one of those bills which year on year has increased to levels which were beyond people’s expectations.”

But she refused to criticise Surrey saying: “If that means sometimes you don’t get exactly what you want, so be it.”

She said: “They certainly won’t be getting a cold shoulder from me for making a decision based upon their local views.

"I think that decision is the wrong decision from a coalition government’s perspective but if they feel that decision is right for them on a local perspective and provided they can justify that to their electorate...then ultimately we’ve got to trust in that local decision making.”

The Conservative cabinet minister without portfolio praised Boris Johnson, who is standing against Ken Livingstone, Brian Paddick and others, in the mayoral elections on May 3.

She said: “There’s so much happening in London this year that the face of London and who represents London is going to be so relevant and I think, and this is not just party politics, what Ken represents is not the face of London.

"This is not a personal thing but I think Ken represents the past and Boris represents the vibrancy, the excitement, the diversity, the fun and yet the steely determination to see things through.”

She said Boris’ conflicts with the Government were “right and healthy”.

At the last election in 2008 the people of Kingston and Richmond overwhelmingly backed Mr Johnson, helping him to an overall victory.