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| As Brexit is delayed, Yorkshire Tories weigh up options for next leader | |
| (1 day later) | |
| They were supposed to have been celebrating Brexit on Friday night with their local MP over a supper of breaded plaice and garden peas. | They were supposed to have been celebrating Brexit on Friday night with their local MP over a supper of breaded plaice and garden peas. |
| Yet instead of enjoying an event billed by the local Conservative association as “Fish & Chips with Rishi Sunak on the night we’re due to leave the EU”, party faithful in one of Britain’s bluest constituencies have been looking on aghast at events in Westminster. Some are now chomping at the bit for radical action. | Yet instead of enjoying an event billed by the local Conservative association as “Fish & Chips with Rishi Sunak on the night we’re due to leave the EU”, party faithful in one of Britain’s bluest constituencies have been looking on aghast at events in Westminster. Some are now chomping at the bit for radical action. |
| In the sprawling North Yorkshire seat of Richmond, a Conservative majority has long been as solid as the dry stone walls dotting a landscape of picturesque villages, farms and undulating countryside. Even Nigel Farage gets a look-in among those residents who are among the more than 120,000 Tory party members who could very soon be choosing Britain’s next prime minister. | In the sprawling North Yorkshire seat of Richmond, a Conservative majority has long been as solid as the dry stone walls dotting a landscape of picturesque villages, farms and undulating countryside. Even Nigel Farage gets a look-in among those residents who are among the more than 120,000 Tory party members who could very soon be choosing Britain’s next prime minister. |
| “[Farage] isn’t a member of the party but he stands up and talks from the heart. He’s pro-British and stands for what he believes in,” said Lawrence Grose, a local councillor who mourns the fact that Theresa May was handed the reins of leadership, and lambasts both her and other frontrunners to succeed her for “lacking personality”. | “[Farage] isn’t a member of the party but he stands up and talks from the heart. He’s pro-British and stands for what he believes in,” said Lawrence Grose, a local councillor who mourns the fact that Theresa May was handed the reins of leadership, and lambasts both her and other frontrunners to succeed her for “lacking personality”. |
| Steve Baker – a Brexit “ultra” propelled recently from backbench obscurity into the Brexit spotlight in his capacity as deputy leader of the European Research Group (ERG) – was the wildcard choice of another local Tory. | Steve Baker – a Brexit “ultra” propelled recently from backbench obscurity into the Brexit spotlight in his capacity as deputy leader of the European Research Group (ERG) – was the wildcard choice of another local Tory. |
| Geoffrey Linehan, a councillor who advocated a Brexit on World Trade Organization (WTO) terms, accused May and the party of having presided over “a complete cock-up”. | Geoffrey Linehan, a councillor who advocated a Brexit on World Trade Organization (WTO) terms, accused May and the party of having presided over “a complete cock-up”. |
| “When I go around and knock on doors I say we are local Conservatives and we have nothing to do with these silly buggers that are bouncing around in Westminster and who seem to have lost touch with why people voted leave,” Linehan said. | “When I go around and knock on doors I say we are local Conservatives and we have nothing to do with these silly buggers that are bouncing around in Westminster and who seem to have lost touch with why people voted leave,” Linehan said. |
| With local elections approaching on 2 May, he and colleagues say they are treading carefully on doorsteps, where voters are just as likely to want to discuss Brexit as bin collections. These voters include farmers who fear Brexit, and livery yard owners looking forward to escaping the perceived long arm of Brussels. | With local elections approaching on 2 May, he and colleagues say they are treading carefully on doorsteps, where voters are just as likely to want to discuss Brexit as bin collections. These voters include farmers who fear Brexit, and livery yard owners looking forward to escaping the perceived long arm of Brussels. |
| A local leave vote of 56% has rendered Brexit the only game in town, even among prominent Tories who voted remain. | A local leave vote of 56% has rendered Brexit the only game in town, even among prominent Tories who voted remain. |
| “I voted to remain but I am also a democrat and I feel that Theresa May’s deal is the only way forward,” said the Conservative chairman of Richmondshire district council, Bill Glover. He said he was resigned to the fact that Brexit would happen “one way or the other”, despite his concerns about the resulting skills shortages. | “I voted to remain but I am also a democrat and I feel that Theresa May’s deal is the only way forward,” said the Conservative chairman of Richmondshire district council, Bill Glover. He said he was resigned to the fact that Brexit would happen “one way or the other”, despite his concerns about the resulting skills shortages. |
| As for who might follow May, Jeremy Hunt was among those who had impressed Glover: “I think we have got to have someone from the centre ground. We don’t want anyone from the far right or even the remain campaign. It has to be a moderate leaver who can get backing and put the case best during the next round of negotiations.” | As for who might follow May, Jeremy Hunt was among those who had impressed Glover: “I think we have got to have someone from the centre ground. We don’t want anyone from the far right or even the remain campaign. It has to be a moderate leaver who can get backing and put the case best during the next round of negotiations.” |
| On the streets of Richmond, the pretty market town at the centre of a district voted the best place to live in England in this year’s Halifax quality of life survey, the impatience of some Brexit supporters was channeled by David Bell, 73, and Alan Pullin, 67. Both were adamant that the UK should already have left without a deal. | On the streets of Richmond, the pretty market town at the centre of a district voted the best place to live in England in this year’s Halifax quality of life survey, the impatience of some Brexit supporters was channeled by David Bell, 73, and Alan Pullin, 67. Both were adamant that the UK should already have left without a deal. |
| “Theresa May, she’s weak,” said Bell. “I know what Margaret Thatcher would have done two years ago; we would have been out.” He accused those in “Londonistan” of foiling the will of voters. | “Theresa May, she’s weak,” said Bell. “I know what Margaret Thatcher would have done two years ago; we would have been out.” He accused those in “Londonistan” of foiling the will of voters. |
| If the no-deal Brexit favoured by Bell and others is popular locally, then Richmond’s MP reflects it. Sunak, a junior minister and former Goldman Sachs banker who inherited the seat from William Hague, was one of 160 MPs who backed leaving without a deal in the indicative votes on Wednesday. Although in a parliamentary minority for supporting a hard Brexit, the 38-year-old is among those tipped in the past as Tories who might emerge as leadership candidates should the party choose to skip a generation. | If the no-deal Brexit favoured by Bell and others is popular locally, then Richmond’s MP reflects it. Sunak, a junior minister and former Goldman Sachs banker who inherited the seat from William Hague, was one of 160 MPs who backed leaving without a deal in the indicative votes on Wednesday. Although in a parliamentary minority for supporting a hard Brexit, the 38-year-old is among those tipped in the past as Tories who might emerge as leadership candidates should the party choose to skip a generation. |
| At her tea shop in Bainbridge, the Tory leader of Richmondshire council, Yvonne Peacock, did not name Sunak but noted: “David Cameron was unknown until he stood for leadership of the party.” | At her tea shop in Bainbridge, the Tory leader of Richmondshire council, Yvonne Peacock, did not name Sunak but noted: “David Cameron was unknown until he stood for leadership of the party.” |
| Regarding Brexit, she said: “Whatever happens, I really do believe the will of the 17.4 million people who voted leave should be honoured. | Regarding Brexit, she said: “Whatever happens, I really do believe the will of the 17.4 million people who voted leave should be honoured. |
| “The big problem that Conservative MPs who want to deliver that have, though, is that parliament seems to be made up of remainers. The problem is not out in the country, where people voted to leave.” | “The big problem that Conservative MPs who want to deliver that have, though, is that parliament seems to be made up of remainers. The problem is not out in the country, where people voted to leave.” |
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