Tories fear anti-sleaze backlash in Paterson seat

Senior party figures voice concern that opposition will keep ‘pressing the bruise’ in by-election fight

TORY Party chiefs fear an anti-sleaze backlash in the by-election for Owen Paterson’s vacant seat as political opponents seek to exploit the lobbying row.

Figures involved in the planning for the vote are concerned that Labour and Liberal Democrat candidates will repeatedly bring up the debacle which saw Mr Paterson resign as an MP on Thursday.

Early talks between the opposition parties to agree on one “anti-sleaze” candidate collapsed yesterday, with legal restraints on funding and datasharing making it difficult to deliver.

But there is nervousness among Tory Party insiders about the reaction of voters in Mr Paterson’s old constituency in the wake of the row over MPS’ standards.

It comes amid speculation that Mr Paterson will be given a peerage by Boris Johnson. Downing Street declined to rule out the possibility, while friends of the former MP said a peerage had not been offered when he spoke to the Prime Minister on Thursday.

Mr Paterson, a former Tory Cabinet minister, quit as the MP for North Shropshire on Thursday after an attempt to delay his six-week suspension collapsed.

He had been found by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner to have broken lobbying rules by seeking government meetings while being paid by two companies. He has always denied any wrongdoing.

North Shropshire is a safe Tory seat that the party should hold comfortably but there are fears the row could undermine support there and elsewhere.

A Tory insider said: “The scarring could go on for several months. Sometimes when you U-turn like this it can drag on.

“You now have by-elections where our opponents will keep pressing the bruise over and over, saying: ‘Do you remember they did this? They got caught.’”

The vacancy in Mr Paterson’s seat, which he held for 24 years, is one of three by-elections in Tory-held constituencies due in the coming months.

The other votes have been called following the deaths of MPS James Brokenshire, who represented Old Bexley and Sidcup, and Sir David Amess, who represented Southend West.

The vote in Old Bexley and Sidcup is expected to be held before Christmas.

The Southend West by-election will not be contested by Labour and the Lib Dems as a mark of respect after Sir David died in a knife attack last month.

The decision by opposition parties not to run a single “anti-sleaze” candidate in the by-election triggered by Mr Paterson’s departure reflects legal complications.

Both Lib Dem and Labour sources pointed to the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act of 2000 to explain the decision.

That law makes it hard for different political parties to share campaign funds and data if a single candidate runs, complicating support for such an effort.

The legal change came after Martin Bell defeated ex-tory MP Neil Hamilton in 1997 on an anti-sleaze ticket.

Mr Bell calls for a similar move for Mr Paterson’s seat in today’s Peterborough Diary column, saying: “The idea of putting somebody forward in this rocksolid Tory safe seat is worth exploring. I think it is a good idea.

“It needs somebody outside of politics, preferably with good local connections but not necessarily that the Lib Dems, Labour and Greens could all agree to support.”

Nadhim Zahawi, the Education Secretary, yesterday admitted that he had not read the detail of a standards report into Mr Paterson before voting to delay his suspension.

Asked on BBC Breakfast who was right in the row, after Mr Paterson reasserted that he was innocent, Mr Zahawi said: “I actually haven’t read the report.”

Asked how he could have voted on the issue when he had not read the report, he said: “I’ve looked at the report. I haven’t gone into the detail.”