Comprehensive change in British politics is relatively rare and all the more noteworthy for that reason. That we are living through such a transformation has become ever more apparent since the decisive election last May that gave Labour such a landslide victory over the Conservatives. The evidence accumulates daily - and never so obviously as at the end of last week when the Tories' loss of the Winchester by-election was followed within 24 hours by the sacking of the pro-European MP, Mr Peter Temple-Morris, by the party leader, Mr William Hague.
Mr Temple-Morris announced he is to sit on the Opposition side, as a "one-nation Tory" but next to the Labour benches. Several weeks ago he had been on the point of resigning from the Conservatives and joining Labour only to change his mind at the last minute when Mr Michael Heseltine supported the position he had taken on whether Britain ought to join the single currency as soon as possible. Mr Hague precipitately ruled out such a course, effectively for 10 years, after the Labour government announced it was most unlikely to join EMU during the present term of parliament. Such a categorical closing-off of the policy options was too much for Mr Temple-Morris. He persisted in criticising it, provoking his expulsion last week. The combined effect of by-election defeat and this expulsion has taken the political and media focus off Mr Blair's own troubles over the Ecclestone affair. This raised serious questions about Labour's own reliance on private contributions which might have influenced Government decisions, notably that concerning tobacco companies' sponsorship of Formula 1 motor racing events. But all politics is relative; the Winchester by-election serves as a reminder of how comprehensively the Conservatives were defeated, while the expulsion has highlighted divisions within the Conservatives on Europe and minimised Labour's own hesitations on the subject. The net effect will probably be to elongate Mr Blair's extraordinary honeymoon with the voting public. The only consolation for discriminating Conservatives might be that if it also reinforces Mr Blair's tactical, short-term and point-scoring methods of governing, his fall from popular favour when it comes will be all the more severe. But an alternative fear was voiced by Mr Heseltine - that the Conservatives might end up as the third party in the British system, after the Liberal Democrats. Given that the Tories occupy such a place in Scotland, it might not be too surprising that the same should happen in England; but that would in fact be a highly significant indication of truly comprehensive change in British politics. It is simply too soon to say whether this is really on the cards. But just to raise the possibility is to underline how historic this political transition could prove to be. It would herald a realignment as important as any in Britain's modern history. Mr Temple-Morris is a valuable friend of Ireland, who has just finished a term as joint chairman of the parliamentary body linking the Oireachtas and the Houses of Parliament. His fate underlines how closely related political change in Britain is with the effort to reach a settlement between Britain and Ireland in Strand 3 of the peace process.