I had no choice but to heckle Theresa May

Activists can see where the party is going – it was my duty to try to make the Prime Minister take notice

As a card-carrying member for over three decades, I never thought I’d become a cause célèbre in the Conservative Party. But last week, I found myself in a media whirlwind. My crime? Interrupting the Prime Minister during a speech and calling – loudly – for her resignation. Sadly, the incident and its aftermath reflect the shocking disconnect between Tory high command and its footsoldiers.

I decided to make my stand when I learnt that Theresa May was due to address the Welsh Conservative Conference in my hometown of Llangollen the morning after she led the party to catastrophic defeat in the local elections. Despite thinly veiled

threats from local Tory apparatchiks who had got wind of the plan, my confidence was boosted by fellow members who, without exception, said: “Go for it!”

I even knew when to time my heckle because of Conservative Campaign Headquarters’ repetitive stage management; after the Prime Minister has entered she basks in applause for a moment, gestures for the faithful to sit, and there is a momentary pause. Even this orchestration infuriated me, suggesting “business as usual” when the party faces existential crisis. I used the lull to yell: “Why don’t you resign?” and was led away by security, to a few muted claps from the audience.

Believe it or not, I am not a natural heckler. Come rain or shine, I have door-knocked and stuffed leaflets at elections since 1997. But after feeling for months as though my profound concerns, and those of millions of fellow Brexiteers, were being ignored, I knew it was time to act. The support I have received from rank-and-file Conservatives since I gained my notoriety has been extraordinary – a real “I am Spartacus” moment. Countless members, and even an MP, have contacted me to say: “Good on you.” But the reaction from the party hierarchy has been very different.

If Westminster is a bubble, then Mrs May inhabits a bubble-within-abubble, hermetically sealed from the anger of MPS and the public. Back in April, mine became the first Welsh association to put forward a motion of no confidence in the Prime Minister – and we are not alone. I have never seen so many members furious about the direction of the party; not just in its betrayal of Brexit but its utter inability to address our concerns.

The Welsh Conservatives share in this delusion. My views reflect the vast majority of members and yet instead of responding to this groundswell of anger, they turned on me for voicing our concerns. After my interruption, their director reprimanded me and followed me out of the hall. Within hours I had received an email from the head of the Welsh Conservatives, rescinding my conference pass and uninviting me from a gala dinner at which Boris Johnson was speaking that night. Having worked as Mr Johnson’s press officer in the 1997 campaign, I wanted to see him again. Thankfully, my neighbouring association, Clwyd West, was hosting him at a different event, and went out of its way to invite me.

I remain baffled by the lengths CCHQ have gone to in order to punish me, at a time of far more pressing priorities. Already, activists are fleeing to the Brexit Party in their droves. I have lost count of the number of long-time members who have told me they are planning to vote for Nigel Farage in two weeks (I certainly will), while some Conservative associations are refusing to canvass at all.

MPS like Andrea Jenkyns routinely call for the Prime Minister’s resignation in the Commons and on the airwaves. The Cabinet has lost any semblance of collective responsibility. How can the party waste time targeting me, a local party activist, while allowing all these other problems to fester?

Since my protest, I have emailed Sir Graham Brady to express my concerns about our party but I am yet to receive a reply. It’s a pity as I would dearly like to know why Sir Graham and his colleagues on the 1922 Committee have so thoroughly failed to oust this lame duck Prime Minister. As the shop steward for backbench MPS, it is surely his duty to make sure the concerns of the wider party are heard by its leaders.

How bad do things have to get before the men in grey suits get involved? As far as most of us members are concerned, the wrong person was led away from that conference hall last week.