Ian Duncan Smith has been dragooned into the unenviable task of leading Boris Johnson’s campaign after a stumbling start. IDS, as he is known, a Eurosceptic right-winger, was leader of the Tories in the early 2000s until a vote of no confidence toppled him; and latterly a Cabinet minister under Cameron.
Born 9 April 1954 9.02 pm Edinburgh, Scotland, he’s a Sun Aries opposition Neptune square Uranus Moon in Cancer so a maverick, idealistic but not always sensible, impulsive, de-stabilising.
His Pluto in Leo conjunct his MC from the 9th gives him strong opinions and it is in highly determined and inspirational Fire Grand Trine to Mars in Sagittarius trine his Sun. That Grand Trine focusses through a Kite onto Neptune in the 12th which is none-too-practical – so a great many ideas but not always/often a solid end result.
It’ll be an interesting fit with Boris since IDS’s Mars opposes Boris’s Sun Venus in Gemini – so could get very heated. And IDS’s focal point Uranus Moon are on Boris’s midheaven which will certainly bring new ideas to the table from IDS about a radical change of direction. Though whether Boris’s is up for listening is another matter and he could find IDS’s unpredictability outstrips even his own.
The relationship chart is stark, chained-together by circumstance and not exactly easy with a composite Pluto in the 10th which could lead to power struggles about who controls decisions. Pluto is trine Saturn and sextile Neptune which certainly lends ambition for a substantial project but could prove irksome – especially as evasive, unrealistic Neptune opposes the composite Mercury. Which Mercury is getting a sharp elbow from tr Uranus from July 4th onwards which is likely to lead to outbursts. Plus there’s also rebellious Uranus in the 10th so it won’t follow a straight path or be a smooth partnership.
IDS certainly has an extremely loaded relationship with Carrie Symonds with an explosive composite Sun opposition Uranus square Mars, with the Sun in a suspicious, doubt-ridden trine to Saturn Neptune.
He’s also not exactly on the same page as Lynton Crosby who was initially running the campaign – I don’t know whether he’s in or out. But there’s definitely aggravation in there and a nasty sinking feeling at the moment.
IDS looks fairly devastated at the moment with tr Pluto conjunct his Sun/Neptune midpoint until July 9th which Ebertin describes as ‘a tragic illusion or deception’ and ‘suffering’ though he’s pushing ahead with confidence despite that with tr Pluto opposition his Jupiter/Pluto midpoint at the same time. Tr Uranus is conjunct his Venus in Taurus come July 4th onwards for a few weeks – Uranus is a trickster planet and can go both ways, but given his Venus natally opposes Saturn in Scorpio, it does look like a considerable emotional upset. That’s the point where there may well be an eruption with Boris (see above). Late July he has tr Saturn opposition his Moon for a discouraging dip for a few days.
The herding cats is a great analogy and I just thought of another one which is “the blind leading the blind”. I have had the misfortune of meeting IDS and I found him to be a very unpleasant and old fashioned person living in a former era and not in touch with the modern world.
Another great photo! It’s interesting, as IDS had such a reputation for being quiet and rather dull. And yet he is clearly much more complicated than that. This may not turn out to be his finest hour…..
As a skilled cat herder, I can testify that …sometimes…cats can be induced to follow. But never herded 😉
Does he feel that his life is so terrible? If so, why doesn;t he simply up and retire? Gods, why prolong a bad situation?
“https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk7yqlTMvp8”
Cat herding in the Old West…a commercial 😉