David Haigh – Tory Boy?
I have to declare an interest here right away. I’m not well-disposed towards Tories, nor yet to the Tory philosophy (which as far as I can see boils down to “Sod you, Jack – I’m alright”). So the news that somebody well towards the top of the hierarchy of Leeds United is to seek the nomination for what is considered at the moment to be a safe Tory seat does not gladden my heart. Neither does it inspire me with any confidence in the man’s tendency to tell the truth and shame the Devil (who is currently occupied in litigation against Leeds United under the name K. Bates – bad cess to him).
Another slight niggle is that, if Haigh gets elected to Parliament – by no means a certainty if the Tories reprise their 1997 electoral meltdown – he intends to combine that role with his day-to-day running of Leeds United. That’s two proper, grown-up, full-time jobs of a very demanding nature – is the lad up to it? At 36 he is, after all, nobbut a bairn as we say hereabouts. It’s difficult to forecast Haigh’s chances at the 2015 election, even if he should secure the Tory nomination for the seat concerned, Northampton South. The majority of just over 6,000 at the last election would be a fairly slim buffer against the kind of swing opinion polls are currently suggesting. It may well be that in 2015, Haigh will be involved in two tussles in widely differing fields if Leeds are going for promotion at the same time their MD is aiming for a seat in the Commons. Under those circumstances, I’d be wishing him all the best in sport and all the very worst in politics. There’s nowt personal either way, all’s fair in football and politics.
It’s not as if Haigh would be the first Tory at the top of Leeds United, anyway. There’s always been a knot of reasonably successful businessmen running the club, from way back – and most of those lads didn’t get where they were by espousing a liberal or socialist agenda. It’s just that, politically, they tended to remain in the closet, as it were, and concentrate on applying their zero knowledge of the game to running a football club. So whilst it may not feel all that comfortable – not for someone of my rabidly anti-tory persuasion, anyway – to have a declared Conservative seeking to advance his political ambitions whilst involved in my beloved Leeds, it’s hardly anything all that new. As long as his deluded notion of what makes for good government doesn’t reflect badly on Leeds United, I’m fine for him to get on with it. Live and let live, and all that.
Meanwhile – all jokes and weak puns aside – we still really do need that right-winger. And in the interests of political and sporting balance, we could do with a chap on the left, too. So get weaving, David – forget all that political nonsense for now – concentrate on what’s really important and let the Tories get on with grinding the faces of the poor without you.
Life, Leeds United, the Universe & Everything 
I look forward to Michael Gove George Osborne and David Cameron all shouting the boys on from the Kop
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I’m so glad you didn’t mention IDS – Spurs are welcome to keep that tosser.
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‘seek the nomination…?’ He’s a total shoo-in, a total Tory [Co-Chairman of Conservatives Abroad Dubai and the Vice Chairman of Gulf Tories] and probably a total Tosser to boot! I was never happy with his (political) credentials when he came on the scene so am not at all surprised to hear this news. Two jobs? Two salaries! What’s the problem…? Ah well, they come and go and its probably too much to ask to have someone in that position that we would like to be next to on the terraces…
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he’ll never be as right-wing as Bates so i wouldn’t worry about it Rob.
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Leaves a very bad taste in my mouth. Football being the game of the working man and the tories being, well, Tories…… I’d rather have Ferguson involved than that tosser I’m afraid and that is no easy statement, believe me. MOT
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And I’d rather have Pol Pot than Fergie. Each to his own.
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Rob you’re a commie, admit it!
In short I don’t agree with you on this at all, in this case blue really is the colour!
Good on David for wanting to stand up for good honest txpaying workers, if he stands on the loafing shirkers whilst doing it so much the better.
We do need a right winger very badly (& a left winger too) & I’m afraid I’m not too sure about Blackstock I thought he looked lazy & a bit disinterested against the smog monsters.
I really hope we don’t spend any of the seven figure sum David Haigh invested recently on Dexter.
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Fortunately for you, I’m so liberal that I even afford Tory scum the right of expression on my hallowed posts 😉
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Thanks
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Now Pol Pot would make a fair scout!
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Better than no scout at all — perhaps…
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KEEP FOOTBALL OUT OF POLITICAL DEBATES and as far as lying tossers are concerned, I was present when Adam Ingram (Labour) gave a jobs for years to come speech at RAF St Athan and invested (wasted) 80 million quid of your tax money on new aircraft maintenance facilities in S Wales, only trouble was he’d already agreed to move the work elsewhere, so 2000 men lost their jobs. That facility is now empty.
So, being Labour doesn’t always mean you’re a friend of the working man.
FFS stick to football.
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Look at the blog title and the “About this blog” page. It’s not just about football, and no amount of FFS-ing will change that.
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Rob, me old mate. I did read the title and the first bit of my response was meant to be an attempt at Irony.
However, I don’t really want to read anything concerning politics when I go looking for LUFC news. You’re going to put me off and I like reading your stuff.
Mot
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I’d hate to put you off – good readers are hard to come by 😉
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We need Haigh out of Leeds, end of
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You have no understanding of what Conservatives do stand for… and you no doubt never want to.
The most important thing is, we’re Leeds fans and he ‘s just put a large amount of money into a great club.
Why not keep our political leanings to ourselves for now?
Berty
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Feel free to keep yours to yourself – sounds like they’re nowt to be proud of.
As for me, I am proud of being a socialist as I shall occasionally make clear. My blog, my soapbox. If you don’t like it, the very best of hard cheddar.
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Of course for a bit of left leaning parity its entirely plausible that the next prime minister of this land will be the arch Marxist (the medias words not mine) Ed ‘better red than dead’ Miliband an out of the closet Leeds fan. Perhaps he and mr. Haigh can bury the hatchet in the commons bar?
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Couldn’t they bury it in Gideon Osborne instead?
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I vote Tory follow leeds,and I was born on the gipton in leeds a rough councils estate.fortunately I have a brain and don’t pigeon hole football fans. I would never vote for the champagne socialists like the ex Man U manager, all that is wrong about our country. Why oh why do people think. That if you are a worker you are labour, open your mind come into the building trade with me and see what real hard work is, forever Tory forever leeds
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I never met a Tory yet who wasn’t motivated first and foremost by self-interest.
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Like ferguson you mean
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Ferguson is not a Tory, so that remark is nonsense. My views on champagne socialists are separate and distinct from my views on self-serving, callous, ignorant Tory scum.
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I was being sarcastic ferguson is the biggest socialist of the lot,millions from book sales and management, and good luck to him, but I don’t see him donating millions to charity, unlike Gary Kelly and Niall Quinn, there is good and bad in all politics but champagne guardian reader socialist should not preach to us working class
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Agree ; )
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I have been told that he wants to be the MP for Dubai, representing all the ex-pats out there.
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A Tory representing only the rich? Surely not!
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David Haigh is a very clever guy, to be sure! Why he wants to be an MP I do not know, that is unless he wants to become Prime Minister one day – not beyond the bounds of possibilities my friend! I think, however, that you may have ignited the blue touch paper here! For the record I don’t have much time for any of the politicians they are all staunchly themselves and their mates. When they are in the Parliamentary bar they all drink out of the same trough, bar the occasional punch up. So what is there to choose between any of them. From what I have seen David Haigh will probably have more ability, common sense of integrity than any of them. Finished. That’s it!! Lets get back to football.
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Rob,
The blog makes for enjoyable reading.
Perhaps an interesting question to pose to the politically-minded Leeds fan would be:
1. Premiership and accept commercialization; or
2. Championship with sustainable and excitement-less football.
To stare the obvious, the top premiership football clubs are like no other corporate entity (until the financial fair play rules come into force and then only to the extent that such rules have sufficient deterrents for transgressions), they survive whilst making huge year on year losses as being nothing more than the billionaire
with a sporting interest’s play-thing.
Anyway for me, as a Leeds fan since 1986, presiding over the rise, plateau, rise and fall and fall, and rise and plateau to date, I will reserve any political debate for the chance to watch leeds united in Europe once more, please. Please. Invest and let’s mot.
WM
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Rather a Tory , than a loony left red tit :0 or lib twat tbh
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Noted and violently disagreed with!
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Noted and violently disagree with you too sir
; )
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I believe that a certain labour shadow chancellor has a seat in Leeds, despite helping to make a “Balls up” of the economy.
And guess who he supports, I am sure our talent going to Norwich is a mere coincidence.
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How about a change to socialist owners,we could have one of the richest most self interested people in the world with Blair and he could team up with another rich and self interested man in mandelson. Peter might be able to find us a couple of decent young Brazilians on his next scouting mission.
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It’s sickening isn’t it? I was just as gutted when i found out that grant shapps is a cousin of Mick Jones from The Clash. Nevermind,if Operation Fernbridge all goes to plan,no-one will touch the tories ever again (unless it’s a prison strip search). blairs friend cliff richard won’t be selling many records either. Result!
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Amen, Brother.
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On second thoughts,best remove the cliff(kitty)richard reference, as apparently he has a super injunction barring any mention of his name in relation to the Elm Guest house in Barnes or Operation Fernbridge. As far as i know,leon britten hasn’t taken out a super injunction though.
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Censorship?? Don’t worry Mick, you’re untraceable – I’ll stand up and fight the might of Cliff if I have to 😉
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I have to confess that I’ve no idea why this article has cropped up on NewsNow at this point. It was originally published over a month ago, so this sudden reappearance is entirely random.
It also appears to be flushing the right-wing variety of Leeds fan out of the woodwork, which is not really what I’m aiming for as it’s my intention to keep this blog a clean and fragrant place.
To all you Daily Mail aficionados, all I have to say is: Come the glorious day – we’ll have a different carry-on. Roll on 2015 and my double of Leeds in the top flight and Camoron out on his arse with all of his nasty little Hitlerite henchmen.
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I am also a labourite, but lets be honest if we are in prem.league next season on haighs money & know how, will we say piss off tory? I think not
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But this is how ideology works. It’s a matter of looking at the greater good, so that – even if you’re benefiting personally from the current government – you still have the moral fibre to stand up and say, as you must eloquently put it: piss off, tory.
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Gordon baxendale
Sorry Rob good comments but after supporting for 67years and a Tory councillor since 1986, how can you differentiate between where the money and support comes from? The difference between sitting in stands! No, The amount of money that we spend supporting the club! No, the only difference between political philosophies is how best we can bring OUR club back to where they belong I.e. At the pinnacle of the league.
Would you say no if we suddenly were bought by oil money and had mega monies to spend, I think not . Please ask yourself where we got to under previous administrations and how that was built on shifting sands and where Barcelona are now , built as aCLUB with admittedly good sponsors.
Have a good new year
Regards
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Ha ha,nice one. Cheers Rob. I think it’s important that people should know what these tories are like, evil horrible creatures. I would invite anyone to google the bullingdon club for starters,then they could ask themselves why edwina currie only mentioned tory cabinet paedophiles when she had a book coming out. She knew for years what they were getting up to. I would also invite anyone to look up the definition of psychopath and compare it to the definition of tory. There aint much difference folks.
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Mick – I want to buy you a pint, fella.
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Cheers,i’ll have a pint of Rivet Catcher. On a lighter note,that west ham gobshite must be suicidal at the thought of whats going on at his club. Who didn’t laugh out loud when they heard that Heitinga had refused to sign for w,ham from Everton despite the clubs agreeing a fee? Karma!
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Sweet as. Poor HF has seemed even poorer than usual lately…
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Wonderful prose Rob and my sentiments exactly.
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Thank you, Your Maj!
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Your articles are always an enjoyable read, Rob. I’m wondering if we should get someone called Mao, as Chairman…. Just to restore the political equilibrium? 😉
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The “Little Red Book” might present problems 😉
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Tories are asset strippers who are busy selling off all the assets in public hands to their friends and families in the private sector on the cheap. At the same time as resurrecting the gestapo like treatment of
certain foreign people. Maybe it will be the Jewish community next on their hitlist..starting with the Millibands. The tories hijacked football under Thatcher, that will/should be revealed in the Hilsborough report version (sorry lost count) probably 22 but would not put any money on getting the real truth. A bit like the miners strike which is linked to Hillsborough through the tories/police..I’m very fearful of what Haigh is really up to.
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Wise words. All Tories should be regarded by those outside their favoured class with the kind of suspicion and distrust in which a mouse holds a cat.
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Just let us enjoy the fact that old chelsea bastard is out of our club for abit longer before worring about this next 1
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Enjoyment is not allowed – haven’t you heard the killjoys stomping all over people’s attempts to enjoy the memory of beating the scum in the FA Cup four years ago today?
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Thats rite special day today watched the highlights bout ten times all ready love it mate love it
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Ooh Cal,that comment was rather thatcher-esque. A bit rejoice,rejoice. I think our back 4 are socialists, the manner in which they ran back for that first Blackburn goal was TROT-skiest. I see Arthur Scargill has been vindicated after 30 years too,he knew what the bastards were up to.
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Didn’t he just.
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Thatcher-esque??
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bloody hell rob, I couldn’t care less if he was a hit man for the communist party! Hes putting money into united, isn’t that what matters? Anyway, Im sure theres as many ex public school boys on the labour benches as there are on the tories and they certainly come out even on the corruption stakes.
Stick to football.
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It’s not just a football blog fella. Check out the title, I tried to put clues in there so even Tories would be aware.
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Cal 17.22,sorry if it seemed like i was accusing you of being a tory. I should have used the phrase “a thatcherism”. Your comment – “let’s just enjoy the fact that bates has gone” reminded me of something the witch once said during the Falklands debacle. No offence meant mate.
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