Tory Party at risk of self-implosion
The Conservative Party is at risk of self-implosion if it fails to overcome the current leadership melee, former party chairman Chris Patten warned last night.
The EU commissioner said things were so bad even Winston Churchill, the great wartime Tory leader, couldn’t lead the party.
In an interview on BBC2’s Newsnight, Mr Patten said: “I just feel deeply saddened by the present situation.
“The Conservative Party in the 90s got into the habit of tearing itself apart and it seems to have some difficulty in shaking that habit. It’s still high on it and so long as that’s the situation it’s going to find it very difficult to be a credible opposition.
“I don’t think anybody, I don’t think a combination of Disraeli and Churchill could run the Conservative Party effectively in the present circumstances. I just think it’s lost the tradition of loyalty and as it’s drifted to the right it’s lost that instinct it had for middle opinion.”
Mr Patten’s comments came after former Tory Prime Minister John Major said he was “heartbroken” over the current state of the party, made worse by the leadership row.
But Iain Duncan Smith will find some comfort from The Times poll of 79 constituency association chairmen. The poll found a large majority backing him.
