On introducing a new MP to the Commons, Sir Winston Churchill famously said: ‘The Opposition occupies the benches in front of you, but the enemy sits behind you.’
Today, these words are especially timely. Owen Paterson’s fiasco exposed the simmering rivalries among different Tory MPs.
The mishandling of the response to the Committee on Standards’ decision to suspend the former minister for an ‘egregious’ breach of lobbying rules has revealed a gaping chasm in their ranks.
One Tory MP described it as a divide between ‘oiks and toffs’ but, in fact, it’s more complicated than that.
The mishandling of the response to the Committee on Standards’ decision to suspend the former minister for an ‘egregious’ breach of lobbying rules has revealed a gaping chasm in their ranks
On one flank is the old guard of fiscally cautious Tories – the knights of the shires – on the other the 109 younger, often lower-middle-class Tories, elected in 2019.
Many of the latter, who won in Northern Red Wall seats, are expecting significant injections of cash into their constituencies as part of the Government’s levelling-up – an approach that some of the older Thatcherite MPs view with unrestrained horror.
It is now clear that the insecure alliance formed between the old and the new guard after last year’s election has been completely dissolved.
Many Tory veterans are critical of the 2019 Tory Parliamentary candidates. One former minister told me: ‘Some of them are awful. It was not expected that they would win seats in these Labour heartlands. It’s why Tory HQ never bothered with due diligence when they were selected as candidates. It’s why so many cause trouble. They don’t want advice from people who know how Westminster operates.’
The sight of ex-Ministers of Cabinet or middle-ranking who are using their experience and connections to make a lot of money in the commercial sector is another source of tension.
Red Wall members are not happy with the fact that most earn significantly more in politics than they did during their working life. The Red Wall cohort believes that allowing themselves to earn more money is going to cause them to appear out of touch with the voters.
One senior Tory observed: ‘We have two parliamentary groups. One thinks the MPs’ £82,000 salary is the basic salary, which they can build up outside Westminster, and the other considers £82,000 all the money in the world. It is becoming a major source of friction.’
The bitter divisions between the new generation of MPs and Owen Paterson’s praetorian guard were laid bare in last week’s emergency Commons debate on a Government amendment which proposed setting aside the Committee’s proposal to suspend Paterson.
Despite the existence of a whip with three lines, 98 Conservative MPs did not support the Government. 13 also voted against.
The bitter divisions between the new generation of MPs and Owen Paterson’s praetorian guard were laid bare in last week’s emergency Commons debate on a Government amendment which proposed setting aside the Committee’s proposal to suspend Paterson
Mark Fletcher’s opposition speech was one of the most memorable. He won Bolsover in 2019 for the Tories, the first since 1950. This defeats Dennis Skinner, who held it for nearly 50 years.
‘It has been suggested by some senior colleagues on the Conservative backbenches that as I have only been here for two years I do not know how this place really works,’ Fletcher said. ‘I say with the greatest of respect to those colleagues that I think that two years here is more than enough to know the difference between right and wrong.’
Fletcher (36), who holds a majority of 5,000 votes, did not succumb to the whips’ incentives, even the promise of ministerial post.
Red Wall MPs tend to be of the same origin. Aware that they must consolidate their power in seats that returned Labour members for decades, they are prepared to put constituents’ interests above personal ambition.
Tory whips privately complain that some new intake is difficult to control. It’s also why Boris Johnson’s majority of 80, the biggest for the Tories since 1987, is not providing the cushion he might expect.
Jill Mortimer won Hartlepool six months back for the Tories. This is an example the new rebellion. She defied older colleagues’ warnings that her career would be over unless she supported the Government and, after voting for Paterson’s suspension, said in a WhatsApp message to the 2019 intake: ‘This was a colossal misjudgment, it should not have been whipped. You should have been allowed to vote with your conscience on this.’
The class of 2019 is not just trouble for the Tory knights in the shires. Their opposition is the Spartan Brexiteers group. It includes Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg, an architect of the disastrous plan to block Paterson’s suspension, as well as former Brexit minister David Jones and oldest MP Sir Bill Cash, 81.
‘The divide is social snobbery with the toffs in the shires, and ideological with the Spartans,’ says a Tory MP.
Prior to the release of the rescue plan’s announcement, Paterson and Downing Street representatives met with the Spartans. However, it was canceled when the Opposition parties decided not to be a part of a new standards commission.
Senior Tory says older MPs can learn from Red Wall Tories. ‘They spent years in political opposition,’ he says. ‘Now they have made a breakthrough they are enthused, bold and determined to make a difference. They have been a credit to our party. They are the future and the Spartans are the past.’