Amber Rudd, Member of Parliament (MP) for Hastings and Rye.
Paul Minter
member, Bexhill and Battle Conservative Association
With the resignation of Amber Rudd from both the cabinet and the Conservative party it’s hard to find anyone that the leadership locally or nationally still listens to.
Locally in Bexhill a single issue of a Bexhill town council lost the Conservative party every Conservative councillor in Bexhill and with it Rother council.
In the European election not listening cost the Conservatives humiliation, watching the Brexit party, the Lib Dem’s and even the Green Party make good gains.
Now they aren’t even listening to their own MPs, even those in the cabinet! How many Conservative MPs have said in the last week they won’t be standing at the next election, they just don’t want to be party of this present party.
A Labour MP recently said she heard what Conservative MPs said in the House of Commons tea room, but once they came into the chamber they kept their heads down and remained silent.
I think we will see more Conservative MPs quitting in the next few weeks. Soon the Conservative party will be fighting many seats against its old MPs as independents or members of other parties.
The only answer I can see is a new Conservative party, perhaps founded by one of the recent leavers. Unless someone holds up a banner soon and rallies all Conservatives to them, the Conservatives will be a minority party in third or fourth place in parliament. The biggest threat to the present Conservative party, is someone forming a new Conservative party that is more moderate, less extreme, centre ground.
Paul Minter
Bexhill
