If the Housing Secretary is to survive, he will have to learn the art of sometimes saying no to property developers such as Richard Desmond.
This by-election was ultimately won by the brute force of a massive activist turnout. It was a vivid demonstration of the importance of a party’s grassroots.
The Conservative Party has flung every minister, MP, candidate, activist and aristocrat it can lay its hands on into this fight.
Plus: Boris’ big MP hurdle. Why Helmer is a disastrous by-election choice. Anonymous MEPs. And: No. 10’s cup of cold sick.
By-election candidates for the party of protest don’t usually determine the result.
Plus: Lay off Farage. How the Lobby messed up over Newark. Paxman: my sorrow. And: runners and riders for Newsnight.
The Freedom Festival is a chance to speak your mind, and hear champions of our movement speak theirs.
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter Yesterday I reported Roger Helmer MEP's regrettable decision to defect to UKIP. Mr Helmer defected after he had announced his hope to retire and then after ConHQ had refused to appoint Rupert Matthews as his successor. Mr Matthews was ranked next in the East Midlands list of MEP candidates. Rupert […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter Roger Helmer MEP has announced that he is leaving the Conservative Party and joining the United Kingdom Independence Party. Helmer has been an MEP for the East Midlands region since 1999, having been re-elected in 2004 and again in 2009. He has made his concerns over Conservative policy very public […]
By Roger Helmer MEP. Follow Roger on Twitter. Twenty Questions for Conservatives… David Cameron gave a “cast iron guarantee”, in the Sun newspaper on Sept 26th 2007, for a Lisbon referendum. But after the Treaty was ratified, he dropped the commitment. Should he have changed his mind? The Tory Manifesto (like Labour & Lib-Dems) promised an EU referendum. […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter Earlier today Roger Helmer MEP tweeted that the Union Flag was flying upside down outside of the European Parliament. Here's the proof: Mr Helmer has written to the President of the Parliament asking for the insult to be corrected: "Arriving at the parliament this morning around 7:00 a.m., I noticed […]
By Roger Helmer MEP. Follow Roger on Twitter. Never, I think, have I seen two such dramatically contrasting articles on facing pages of a national newspaper. We have a hugely striking example between the clash of old-think and new-think — of inward-looking little-Europeanism versus outward-looking global trade. You’ll find the two pieces on pages 4 […]
By Roger Helmer MEP. Follow Roger on Twitter. There is a rift in the Conservative Party. A fissure. A gully. A chasm. A canyon. A gap so wide it potentially represents an existential threat to the Party, and perhaps justifies radical action. I speak of course about the gap between the leader and the led, […]
TTIP offers huge benefits on both sides of the Atlantic. We shouldn’t allow indecision and misinformation to derail it.