Hezza suspended by the Tory party
Grandee faces fire over Euro vote protest
LORD Heseltine was suspended by the Tories last night for backing the Liberal Democrats in the European elections.
The former deputy prime minister had said he would not vote Conservative because the party was ‘infected by the virus of extremism’.
Last night the prominent Remainer was warned by the chief whip in the House of Lords he would be kicked out unless he reversed his decision.
When he refused to do so, Lord Heseltine, 86, was told he was suspended from the party whip until he agrees to support future Tory candidates.
A spokesman for the Tories said: ‘Lord Heseltine has given more than half a century of service to the Conservative Party, and his longstanding and sincerely held views on Europe are well understood. But, with his long experience, he will know that publicly endorsing the candidates of another party is not compatible with taking the Conservative whip in Parliament.’
Earlier, Lord Heseltine had warned the party that it should ‘ be careful’ before thinking of expelling him.
He first entered the Commons in 1966 and rose to become Defence Secretary under Margaret Thatcher until he resigned over the Westland affair in 1986. He was brought back by John Major to get rid of the poll tax, before becoming his deputy in 1995.
Lord Heseltine was told of the decision to suspend him during a face-to-face meeting with Lords chief whip Lord Taylor of Holbeach. Earlier, he told Radio 5 Live: ‘I’m lending my support to the Liberal Democrat candidate. I’m not going to leave the Conservative Party and I’m not going to resign the Conservative whip – that’s where my natural home is. But I’m not prepared to indulge in this act of national sacrifice by voting for Brexit.’
When asked whether the Conservative Party should expel him for voting LibDem, he said: ‘It’s up to them. There are five million Conservative voters who voted Remain. Be careful, I would say, before you start abandoning them.’
A decade ago, Lord Tebbit was threatened with expulsion by David Cameron after urging voters to boycott the main parties at a time when Ukip were high in the polls.
Some senior Tories were worried that taking action against Lord Heseltine will prompt calls to discipline those backing the Brexit Party. One poll found that 40 per cent of Tory councillors planned to vote for Nigel Farage’s party.
Telford MP Lucy Allan also praised its ‘fantastic’ candidates and refused to rule out voting for it.
Speaking before the announcement, Lord Heseltine was asked what losing the whip would mean to him. He told Sky News: ‘Well, the sun will come up tomorrow morning. They can take away the whip, but they cannot take away my integrity, or my convictions, or my experience.’ Theresa’s final showdown
‘They cannot take away my integrity’