Into the wilderness
Sir: Paul Johnson might have called to mind (And another thing, 13 March) the long wilderness years endured by the Con- servatives after dissidents had split their Party in 1846 and 1905; and that on each occasion what the 'rebels' had contended for (first the Corn Laws and then Imperial Preference) was quietly jettisoned when the Party at last resumed office.
After the overthrow of Sir Robert Peel, 28 years elapsed before the Conservatives again had a majority in the House of Com- mons; and after Balfour was broken no Conservative administration was formed until 1922, a lapse of 17 years.
Excitable young Tory MPs who do not relish the prospect of a generation in Opposition at Westminster, or the necessity of seeking a wider sphere of usefulness out- side, might think hard about where they are being led.
J.L. Lord
Bryansford Village, Co. Down
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