Former Chancellor Ken Clarke should have become Prime Minister – Yorkshire Post letters

From: Nigel Boddy, Fife Road, Darlington.

THE Conservative Party has now lost – or failed to win outright – five of the last six general elections. This is an astonishing statistic for them.

They kept faith with John Major in 1997 when arguably he should have been replaced.

How the poorest will pay the heaviest price of all for Boris Johnson’s no-deal Brexit – Chris Haskins

The outcome of the election of that year would certainly have been quite different with Ken Clarke as Tory leader.

Why Boris Johnson’s phoney PMQs on Facebook is an insult to voters – Andrew Vine

The Tory MPs elected William Hague as leader instead of Ken Clarke and lost again in 2001.

They picked Iain Duncan Smith instead of Ken Clarke and then had to abandon him after two years. He was replaced by Michael Howard instead of Ken Clarke and the Tories lost again in 2005.

The Tories then picked Dave Cameron instead of Ken Clarke and failed to win an outright majority in 2010.

If Ken Clarke had been offered to the electorate by Tory MPs instead in 1997, 2001, 2005, 2010 and 2017, I believe the outcome of these general elections would have been quite different.

Arguably Tony Blair would never have been PM. We would never have had the referendum of June 23, 2016, either. Would there be a Scottish Parliament now?

It is merely a sign of the divisions on the backbenches of the Conservative Party that Tory MPs have felt unable to offer the electorate Ken Clarke as a potential PM for a period of over 22 years.

From: Steve Pearse, Great Barugh, Malton.

WHAT a wonderful, insightful piece from your columnist, Bill Carmichael, in response to the ridiculous proposal from Green MP Caroline Lucas for all-women Cabinet to stop Brexit. How right he is to point out the intellectually myopic views of this so-called paragon of virtue.

Shameful sexism and bigotry of Green MP Caroline Lucas and her all-women Remain-supporting anti-Brexit Cabinet – Bill Carmichael

How often have we seen and heard this hypocritical woman point the finger at others, whom she appears to believe are of lower intellect and somewhat inferior beings to her in her self-appointed grandeur?

She is not alone, of course, in being an elected MP who wishes to work against the outcome of the 2016 referendum result – a referendum the result of which we were promised, by the government of the day, would be honoured but one which continues to be challenged by so many MP’s against the will of their own constituents and, possibly for personal reasons?

Our new Prime Minister, whether you like him or not, is clearly someone who wishes to see democracy, and integrity in politics, upheld and not be cast asunder by a political elite that care little for the majority.

In order to move forward now, we must recognise the result, bring about ‘Brexit’ and galvanise once more as a United Kingdom; putting aside doubt, uncertainty and division. It won’t happen overnight of course, but until such times as the insidious Ms Lucas accept that she can’t have it all her own way we will never get back on track.