May facing a grassroots backlash

THERESA May is facing a grassroots backlash as senior Brexiteers help launch a campaign to democratise the party.

The proposals were in a 10-point plan put forward today by Tory MEP and former Conservatives For Britain chairman David Campbell Bannerman.

They include handing power to constituencies to select their own candidates as well as allowing party members to elect the chairman. The call will be made at a fringe meeting today of the Campaign For Conservative Democracy after angry Tory activists heckled the Prime Minister for refusing to take questions from them at the start of the conference.

The meeting will also challenge the Tory hierarchy with a mock election for party chairman.

The vote will put the current chairman Sir Patrick McLaughlin – who many thought should have been sacked after the election – against Brexit heroes Boris Johnson and Jacob ReesMogg and leading Remainer Anna Soubry.

Meanwhile, a post-mortem of the Conservative’s general election strategy by former Cabinet minister Sir Eric Pickles has called for changes to the way the manifesto is drawn up, to ensure it is fully backed by senior party figures.

The proposal for a manifesto committee comes after reports that Mrs May did not consult Cabinet colleagues over key elements of the 2017 manifesto, including the controversial “dementia tax”.

Sir Eric found that the election – which saw Tories increase their share of the vote to 42 per cent but lose their overall majority in the Commons – revealed “a clear campaigning deficiency” in the party and the need for “a fundamental re-evaluation” of the way it runs campaigns.