Senior Tories yesterday protested the removal of Theresa May’s special advisers from the candidates’ list, Coffee House understands.
There had been talk of mounting a ‘rescue mission’ to reinstate Nick Timothy and Stephen Parkinson after they were struck off the list before Christmas, but at a board meeting of the Conservative party yesterday, MPs representing the 1922 Committee expressed their discomfort at the way the pair had been treated.
Many in the party feel it was a vindictive swipe at Timothy and Parkinson, who do not enjoy good relations with Number 10. They had hoped that the board, which is the ultimate decision-making authority in the party, might overturn the decision and force the party to re-adopt the candidates, but in the end it was simply raised as a subject for discussion, with members agreeing that the code of conduct for special advisers must be revised so there is no conflict between the demands placed on candidates and the behaviour expected of special advisers. This afternoon Sir Jeremy Heywood was confronted by MPs on the Public Administration Select Committee who said he had brought his position into ‘disrepute’ by saying SpAds can campaign in by-elections.
If Timothy and Parkinson had been removed from the list earlier on in the Parliament, sources say it is likely Tory MPs would have fought the decision more ferociously, but there is currently little desire to rock the boat with the election just 100 days away.
Some in the party feel that the candidates list is being used as a source of free labour for CCHQ rather than simply a list of people suitable for constituency associations to adopt. Others argue that if you want to be an MP, one of the ways you demonstrate that you are suitable is by committing to campaigning in by-elections and the like, though presumably a special adviser might be able to prove their commitment to politics by waving at the piles of documents covering their desk in Whitehall.
But it looks as though the last chance for Timothy and Parkinson to stand as MPs in this election has been removed.
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