Tory grassroots vent their anger at Cameron and Willetts

ConservativeHome’s regular survey of Tory activists, the same one that got the leadership result pretty much spot on, shows that David Cameron’s popularity with the grassroots has been badly dented by the grammar school debacle with his net satisfaction down from +49% to +22%. David Willetts is bearing the brunt of the party’s displeasure, though. His satisfaction rating has fallen 60 points to minus 24 percent; making him the most unpopular member of the shadow cabinet. No shadow minister has received such a low score since the survey started back at the beginning of Cameron’s tenure.

I expect that Willetts is not only being punished because most activists disagree with the policy but also because of a string of weak performances in the media in its defence, most notably on Newsnight last Thursday after Dominic Grieve had forced the leadership to backtrack. The only good news for Willetts is that Cameron is so personally associated with this episode thanks to his aggressive defence of the policy that it would be a humiliating climb down for him to move Willetts in the near future.