In the new year the EU referendum battle will heat up, and it seems the Conservative party are already starting to shuffle things around in preparation. Stephen Gilbert, the party’s current deputy chairman, has today announced that he is standing down from this position.
When Gilbert originally became deputy chairman, it was agreed that he could also hold non-executive roles with other groups. In November, he took up a part-time position at Populus, the official polling company for the main campaign to keep Britain in the EU, Britain Stronger in Europe (BSIE). While this position was in accordance with Conservative party rules, the move infuriated plenty of Tory Eurosceptics, who felt it undermined the party’s commitment to remain neutral during the referendum. Steve Baker MP, Co-Chairman of Conservatives for Britain, wrote to Lord Feldman in November expressing his concerns that Gilbert’s role – along with a number of other pro-EU campaign positions held by Tory officials – was not in accordance with the official policy of neutrality.
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