Is Theresa May’s team bringing in soft-Brexit Tories?
Written by News on 12/05/2017
Theresa May talks a lot about using this election to strengthen her negotiating hand in Brussels, what she does not talk about much is how she needs to bolster her powerbase in Westminster too.
But her predecessor David Cameron was happy to talk about exactly that on Thursday, saying he wanted Theresa May to "win well" so that she can "stand up to people that want an extreme Brexit, either here or in Brussels".
Mr Cameron knows only too well the problems of a restive backbench.
He presided over the most rebellious parliament of the post-war era, his eurosceptic MPs keeping up the pressure on their leader, edging him – with the help of the UKIP threat – towards calling an EU referendum.
One consequence of this election could be to give Mrs May more manoeuvrability over Brexit by diluting the influence of the 50 or so hard-line eurosceptics on her party’s backbenches.
On Thursday the Conservatives finalised the names of all their candidates.
And Sky News has been researching the backgrounds and talking to those candidates in seats currently held by other parties which the Tories think are most winnable.
We have detected that time and time again those new Tory MPs – if they get elected – would be supportive of a softer Brexit.
All but two of the 26 parliamentary candidates standing in seats deemed winnable said they wanted a free trade deal with the EU as opposed to simply leaving.
They said they trusted Mrs May to deliver that deal. And 18 of them said they had no problem, if the conditions were right, to paying money to the EU as a divorce settlement – in contrast to some eurosceptic MPs opposed to paying any exit fee at all.
Has this been a deliberate process by the leadership?
Some familiar with the selection process believe it has been, with one saying there had been a conscious effort to shoehorn Remain candidates into retirement seats and key targets.
Other senior Tories downplayed the Brexit angle to Sky News – but did stress that the one thing Mrs May will demand from the new intake is their loyalty.
"I think the main thing is she hopes that people who do get elected will realise it is on her coattails," said one senior party figure.
"Very few people will be getting elected for the campaign they fight in a few weeks, so they’ll owe the fact they’re an MP to her delivering it for them."
Mark Wallace, executive editor of Conservative Home, agreed that many of the new MPs would feel indebted to her.
"She certainly has a pre-established authority on the topic [of Brexit], a lot of MPs who win their seats at this election will know that they owe their victories in large part to her and her campaign group, everyone’s been branded as Theresa May’s team," he said.
"And of course we haven’t seen that years and years of breaking down relationships with the backbenchers that David Cameron had with that core awkward squad of Brexiteers. If anything Theresa May has faced an awkward squad of Remainers."
One potential member of the awkward squad that will not be heading to parliament is the eurosceptic MEP Daniel Hannan.
:: May refuses to make pledges on tax and pensions
The Aldershot Conservative association wanted this famous Brexiteer to replace retiring MP Sir Gerald Howath, but he was not put into the final three candidates selected by central office.
Meanwhile, in the safe seat of Chelmsford, Vicky Ford, the MEP for the East of England and a Remain supporter, has been selected to take over from Sir Simon Burns. She will be defending an 18,000 majority.
Another candidate who voted Remain is Rachel Maclean. She won the selection for Redditch, taking over the reins from retiring MP Karen Lumley who has a majority of more than 7,000 votes.
However, Mark Wallace, executive editor of the Conservative Home grassroots website, said there was not a blanket ban on eurosceptics.
Further down the list of winnable seats Nick Varley, who ran the ground operation for Vote Leave, was selected to stand in Tynemouth where he will be looking to overturn a majority of 8,000.
In Cardiff West Matt Smith, who was a policy analyst for Vote Leave, has been picked to try to overturn a Labour majority of nearly 7,000.
A Conservative party spokesman said it was "categorically untrue in any way that people’s views on Brexit has been used to select candidates. We have put forward the best candidates".
:: Follow every twist and turn of the election race in ‘The Campaign with Sophy Ridge’ on Sky News every weekday from 9pm.
(c) Sky News 2017: Is Theresa May’s team bringing in soft-Brexit Tories?
