LibDem Tim Farron pulled off one of the surprises of the last General Election when he ousted then Shadow Education Secretary Tim Collins from the Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency with a 267 majority. It was the only successful front of the LibDems' horribly-named 'decapitation strategy'. The longer-term LibDem strategy of hard won gains in local council seats over many years had made W&L vulnerable and Cllr Farron overcame eroded Tory defences on a 3.5% swing.
The local Conservative Association moved quickly to select an opponent for Tim Farron (who continues as a councillor) at the start of this year. After a recount they chose Richard Bell to overturn a majority that is projected to be 836 after boundary changes but divisions within the Association were immediately apparent. Ten minutes after the selection a leading member of the Association announced their intention "to get rid of him". Two key donors to the Association were particularly opposed to Richard Bell and efforts were soon underway to use CCHQ to accelerate his exit.
A poor local result in May that saw a strong LibDem performance only increased dissatisfaction. Bell loyalists blame inadequate aid from neighbouring Conservative Associations and a lack of CCHQ support to counter an influx of LibDem campaigners from across the region. But CCHQ dismisses these claims from loyalists. A CCHQ audit - just completed - purported to identify a weak, divided Association that was not improving. The audit highlighted the lack of a campaign team and a website. Mr Bell's separation from his wife and a delayed move into the constituency complicated matters but were not included within the audit.
Last Thursday neighbouring MP David Maclean - former Tory Chief Whip - visited Richard Bell at his workplace and warned him that he could resign now or face a bitter and almost-certain-to-be-successful (in Maclean's view) deselection effort from January. After some hesitation and a few small edits Richard Bell signed one of two draft resignation letters that David Maclean had brought with him. Maclean left Mr Bell - promising that his place on the candidates' list was safe.
Maclean immediately organised a special meeting of the Association for the following evening - at which it would be announced that the Association would be subject to special measures. For that meeting - at which Mr Maclean and a team of campaign aides took control of the Association - green and pink-coloured forms were prepared. Association officers were invited to sign the green forms if they agreed to the temporary authority of the Maclean team and had to sign the pink forms if they did not. Signing the pink forms also meant immediate resignation from any position in the Association. According to Maclean eleven pink forms were signed and more than forty green ones. Everything was made messy, however, by Richard Bell appearing at the meeting and retracting his resignation - a retraction that was not accepted by David Maclean.
ConservativeHome is in no position to judge whether CCHQ's audit was fair or to evaluate Richard Bell's strengths and weaknesses as a candidate. What is clear, however, is that the current party leadership is not prepared to allow what is perceived to be a underperforming Association to fail. ConservativeHome is a great defender of the right of Associations to run their own affairs but there must be limits to the extent to which local Conservatives can undermine the regional or national brand. Australia's John Howard gets actively involved in ensuring his party's candidates are up-to-scratch and part of George W Bush's 7th November setbacks were rooted in the centre's reluctance to deselect sleazy or underperforming congressmen. I repeat that it is not possible for ConservativeHome to know whether W&L deserved last week's CCHQ intervention but it has to be right that CCHQ has these powers. These powers must be exercised transparently, however, and there should normally be a 'second chance opportunity' for Association and candidate to put things right before they come under central control.
