Pro EU Tories reveal huge surge in local party membership amid fears of Brexiteers defecting from Ukip
- Remain supporting Tories have revealed a surge in local party membership
- Ukip donor Arron Banks plans to try and get 50,000 Brexiteers into the Tories
- Tory members will pick the next Tory leader and Prime Minister if May is ousted
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Pro-EU Tories have revealed a surge in applications to join the party amid fears hard Brexiteers are defecting from Ukip to try and oust Theresa May.
Leading Remain supporter Anna Soubry has urged Tory headquarters to halt a membership drive until it is sure it can block infiltrators.
Arron Banks, the multimillionaire founder of the Brexit campaign who was Ukip’s largest donor, last week had his application to join the Conservatives blocked.
Mr Banks has urged 50,000 Leave supporters to join the party and help topple Mrs May in favour of a Brexiteer.
The plan alarms Remain supporters because a few thousand Tory members could hold the balance of power in any leadership election to replace the Prime Minister.
Pro-EU Tories have revealed a surge in applications to join the party amid fears hard Brexiteers are defecting from Ukip to try and oust Theresa May (pictured in Cape Town yesterday)
Mrs May has vowed to face down any attempt from the right wing – though likely to be fronted by Boris Johnson – and stay on as Prime Minister to the next election
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Local parties represented by MPs including Stephen Hammond, Dominic Grieve, Anna Soubry, Nicky Morgan and Sarah Wollaston have each reported significant increases in membership in recent weeks, The Times revealed today.
What are the rules for Tory leadership contests?
A Tory leadership contest can be called in one of two ways – if the leader resigns or if MPs force and win a vote of no confidence in them.
Calling votes of no confidence is the responsibility of the chairman of the 1922 Committee, which includes all backbench Tory MPs.
Chairman Graham Brady is obliged to call a vote if 15 per cent of Tory MPs write to him calling for one – currently 48 MPs.
The process is secret and only Mr Brady knows how many letters he has received.
The procedure was last used in 2003 when Iain Duncan Smith was ousted as Tory leader.
If the leader is ousted, any MP is eligible to stand.
Conservative MPs then hold a series of ballots to whittle the list of contenders down to two, with the last place candidate dropping out in each round.
The final two candidates are then offered to the Tory membership at large for an election.
However, some activists have called for changes so it is easier for contenders to reach the final stage.
They have suggested that the membership should get to choose between any candidates who get support from at least 20 other MPs.
Ms Soubry said: ‘We are on a membership drive at the same time as the likes of Banks are urging members of Ukip and other hard Brexiteers to join our party to topple the leader and destroy government policy.
‘I’ve called on the party chairman to end the membership drive until we can be confident we are not being infiltrated by people who are not Conservatives.’
A party source said there had been an increase in applications but played down its significance, telling the Times: ‘We have been driving up membership numbers steadily since the start of the year.’
Mr Banks said on social media last week that he had joined the Conservatives.
The pro-Brexit group’s former communications director Andy Wigmore also said he was joining. But a party spokesman said their applications ‘have not been approved’.
Mr Banks reacted to the statement by writing on Twitter: ‘That’s strange because I had a nice welcome letter from (Conservative Party chairman) @BrandonLewis this morning saying you are now activated and welcome to attend any event.’
The Conservatives’ last recorded membership total was 124,000. Mr Banks has set a target of encouraging another 50,000 new members to ensure that the party achieves Brexit.
Mrs May has vowed to face down any attempt from the right wing – though likely to be fronted by Boris Johnson – and stay on as Prime Minister to the next election.
Speaking in South Africa yesterday, Mrs May said: ‘I’ve answered that question before.
‘I’m in this for the long term.
‘The British people voted for us to leave the EU and I’m focused on doing that.’
Leading Remain supporter Anna Soubry (file image) has urged Tory headquarters to halt a membership drive until it is sure it can block infiltrators
The PM was asked if she feared being ousted in a ‘right wing coup’ like Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull, a longstanding friend since they attended Oxford University together.
‘The Australian politics have certainly been active over the last week or two,’ she said.
‘I think if you look at Australia politics they are rather different than you see in the UK.’
Asked in a separate interview with ITV news tonight whether she had ‘noticed how much Boris wants your job’, Mrs May delivered a withering put-down.
‘I was very pleased that Boris was foreign secretary for the period that he was foreign secretary,’ she said.
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