Conservatives accused of purging ‘high-quality’ candidates who support Brexit

Rishi Sunak has been accused of purging high-quality pro-Brexit Tory candidates from the party ahead of the general election.

Those on the right wing of the Conservative Party believe that Downing Street is preventing “true blue” candidates who support low-tax, small-state conservatism from entering the election so that the party will be dominated by centrists.

So if the Conservatives lose and Mr Sunak subsequently resigns, the Prime Minister will still be trying to prevent the party from moving to the right by huddling with a one-nation Conservative Party that does not support a right-wing leadership candidate.

Some Conservative MPs say high-quality applicants for approval of parliamentary shortlists are being rejected because of their traditional Conservative values, while those who may lack the skills needed to become MPs are being approved because of their belief in high taxes and public policy . expenditure.

Applicants described those responsible for the electoral process as “yellow Conservatives”, meaning their preferred candidates were virtually indistinguishable from the Lib Dems.they also told telegraph There is an anti-Brexit bias among interviewers.

The row is representative of a wider civil war underway within the Conservative Party. Some see a move to the right as the only way to deal with the threat of reform in the UK, while others insist that occupying the center is the only way to stay elected.

Former diplomat Aman Bhogal, who has not been elected since running for the Northern Ireland seat of Upper Bann in 2015, claims Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ), which approves candidate lists, was involved in “stitch-up” , preventing right-wingers from entering the constituency candidate list.

Former Conservative MP David Campbell Bannerman said he had been on the approved candidate list since 2019 but was now blocked from being on the longlist for any particular seat “because of my dissatisfaction with the Conservative Party”. Rishi Sunak is not good enough”.

He said: “Everything has been settled. It was quite blatant and undemocratic. Members are aware of this and are fighting against it because they are not getting the choice of candidate they want.

“This is not about me but about the wider system. This is happening to a series of good candidates who are confused, let down and even kicked out of the party. It’s all about power and control and a lack of democracy It’s about letting people down.”

Another candidate who claimed he was being ignored said: “Essentially, the True Blue Tory candidates are just campaign fodder, the ones who will shove leaflets at the door – CCHQ has no serious intention of putting them on the stand A winnable seat, if at all. They only want a National Conservative candidate, no wonder the quality of the new MPs we get is low.

“When I applied for the seat, the president of the local association called me and said they wanted me to be their candidate, but of course, I was blocked by CCHQ.

“If you are, like me, pro-Brexit, hard on immigration and want lower taxes, then CCHQ will see you as a disgusting brainstormer. Too many people in the party are also likely to be Lib Dems.”

A CCHQ source said: “These claims have no basis in fact. Candidates who attack the party leader will obviously have a hard time being selected as they will be asking voters to vote for him as prime minister.

“But the idea that people are not being brought up because of some ideological leaning is simply wrong. This prime minister is cutting taxes, imposing major immigration restrictions, curbing too many net zero elements and trying to send illegal immigrants to Rwanda . This is not a left-wing agenda at all.”

independent Downing Street has been contacted for comment.