Tories at risk of disintegrating as conference season begins
The Conservative Party conference opened in Manchester today amid a febrile atmosphere marked by political crisis and disintegration.
Earlier, Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, was heckled by bystanders as he arrived at the conference centre in Manchester.
The unwelcome reception will have done little to settle Johnson's nerves as he has suffered three major setbacks since becoming premier in late July.
Earlier this month, the House of Commons passed the European Union (Withdrawal) (No.2) Act 2019, better known as the Benn Act, obliging the government to seek a three-month extension to Brexit if a deal cannot be reached before Britain’s scheduled exit date on October 31.
Johnson has inflamed tensions, and raised fears of politically-motivated violence, by his incendiary reference to the Benn Act as the “Surrender Act”.
Following his Parliamentary setback Johnson had to contend with a massive defeat at the courts, following the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling against prorogation five days ago.
And as if this wasn’t enough, Johnson is personally embroiled in scandal following allegations that he had an “affair” with American model-turned-businesswoman, Jennifer Arcuri.
Earlier Johnson was accused of misconduct in public office during his tenure as London mayor (2008-2016) by showering Arcuri with public funds and privileged access to three official overseas trade missions.
More broadly, the Tory Party is currently more divided than ever in its modern history, to the extent that it may even be at the point of disintegration.
Veteran Tory MPs and grandees have complained of a “hard-right” takeover of the Tory Party.
Leading the charge has been former Chancellor, Phillip Hammond, who is one of 21 Tories who had the whip removed after defying party orders to vote for the Benn Act. Like the rest, Hammond was subsequently deselected as a Conservative candidate by his local association.
Undeterred, Hammond hit back hard by announcing that his purpose now was to: “defend my party against incomers, entryists, who are trying to turn it from a broad church to a narrow faction”.
Amid this fractious atmosphere, few expect the Tories to get their act together in Manchester.
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