Political

Conservative troubles in Bedfordshire

Linda Jack blogged yesterday:

News comes to me from a very reliable source that one [Conservative] Cllr Peter Hand, lately of Nadine Dorries’s office, has resigned as a councillor on both the County and Borough. Not only that, but he has set in motion a domino effect. Two more candidates have resigned and others are due to follow.

Jonathan Isaby on ConservativeHome added to the story:

Over the last three weeks or so, I understand that no fewer than ten of the party’s 22 councillors or selected council candidates for next June’s elections have decided not to stand after all.

One insider has spoken to me about the situation, citing a sense of disillusionment within the group about its lack of vision and serious concerns about the visibility (or lack thereof) of a campaign on the ground.

And Bedfordshire on Sunday adds:

The group is riven with splits and allegations that rules have been changed to the advantage of ex-county Tories being slotted in to borough seats where sitting members have been deselected.

The problems are coming from North-East Bedfordshire Tories, according to those from the existing borough.

The source added: “The North-East Tories have unseated loyal hard working councillors like Nigel Sparrow from Clapham and Bob Harrison from Great Barford.

“Others, like Barry Huckle from Elstow, have been so disgusted by the machinations that they have decided to stand down rather than go through what they consider a degrading process. At the same time there are a number of vacant seats, such as Harrold and Sharnbrook where they haven’t even been selected yet.”

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