The number of Tory MPs who have yet to declare what their stance is in the EU referendum is dwindling. Some of those are away, including Tracey Crouch, who is on maternity leave and gave this very amusing response to those asking about her priorities, while others have decided not to reveal which way they will vote because they are holding public meetings between now and the vote, and want to stay neutral so that they can chair those.
But some are either torn, or just trying to work out the best way of announcing their intentions. And for those MPs, the pressure is becoming rather more intense. Many were contacted by senior Tories, including George Osborne, last week in the run-up to David Cameron securing his deal (James has a very amusing detail on this in his magazine column). But now that the numbers of undeclared MPs are dwindling, those remaining are receiving more and more calls asking them to confirm what they’re planning to do. The pressure for those who want to stay quiet may become too irritating to bear.
What’s interesting is that a good number of Tory MPs who’ve already declared their stance say privately that they plan to keep a low profile during the referendum campaign partly so that they don’t cause rows within their associations or upset constituents who have particularly strong views one way or the other. It’s almost as though a good number of Conservative parliamentarians would like this row to go away as soon as possible.
REFERENDUM 2016: THE BATTLE AHEAD
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