This week as many of you may already know, Former Birmingham University Conservative Future President Dan O Doherty was expelled from the Conservative Party for allegedly wearing a Hitler moustache to a fancy dress party- and then posting a picture of said incident on Facebook. Right, so that's the gist of what's happened- but let's take a moment to analyse the circumstances surrounding this unfortunate incident.
Comments on the article posted on Conservative Home yesterday decried the CF 'Thought Police' while Party Officials are said to have contacted Mr. Doherty to criticize his actions and expel him from the party. That won't be the end of Dan, however. We all know Matt Lewis, of Maddygate fame is said to be active once again in the Conservative Party- for shame I say, but not for the shame of the action, more the shame of the lack of judgement of the individual.
Perhaps one might have felt that no longer being in an executive position within BUCF, he could get away with doing these things? Perhaps it was an alcohol-fuelled student error, which is not a strange thing to happen in an organisation with an average age of 18. True or false, when you're in these societies, in these positions and representing and national political party (on any scale) you need to watch it. WATCH IT. Let it be a message to the lot of us.
Quoted as saying, "I don't hate everyone, I just hate women" and known for once defending Enoch Powell's, "Rivers of Blood," speech and then later seeming to backtrack on his endorsement, Mr. Doherty is not a malicious or racist individual, but one perhaps lacking the media savvy and what one might call Diplomacy 2.0 skills.
So once again, Conservative Future is learning lessons- as if the organisation wasn't without it's problems before. KeepRightOnline suggests that right now is the time for strong leadership for CF, and for decisive action to be taken in asking the members if they really have what it takes to represent the Conservative Party proper (this is no reflection on Mr. Doherty). Perhaps some are looking for a title, some are looking for networking or drinking buddies, most of us however, are in it for the good. The good of the party, good of our communities and the good of the country.
Let's KeepRight, people.
Update 26/05/09: Daniel O'Doherty has since commented that the statements made on his Facebook profile, specifically those regarding the hatred of women were in fact satirical and taken from a television show, whilst other quotes in the same vein were friend's quotes, listed in a tongue-in-cheek manner. This blog has, since the original story broke- maintained confidence in Mr. O'Doherty.
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[/caption]Need we say more? Probably.
