The Conservative cabals who’ve all got axes to grind
LOCKDOWN SCEPTICS William Wragg, Mark Harper, Steve Baker, Esther McVey, Philip Davies
Opponents of coronavirus restrictions have become increasingly vocal – and, crucially, organised – as the pandemic drags on. Last month, 101 Tory MPs joined a rebellion over Covid passports. Many are veterans of the Tory Brexit wars and are drawn from ‘the Spartans’ – the gang of hardline Eurosceptics, who after much plotting eventually managed to bring down Theresa May. Mr Wragg was first to go over the top and publicly declare that Boris Johnson’s position was ‘untenable’. The vice-chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee on Wednesday said the PM’s actions had been ‘deeply damaging to the perception of the party’.
BITTER MAY-ITES Sir Roger Gale, Lord Barwell, Jeremy Hunt, Damian Green, Stephen Hammond
Largely Remainers, this group have never forgiven Mr Johnson for Brexit and his role in toppling Mrs May. They disapprove of his politics and how he conducts his personal life. Sir Roger last month became the first Tory MP to publicly confirm they had submitted a letter of no confidence in Mr Johnson. On Wednesday he said the Prime Minister was politically now a ‘dead man walking’.
THE 2019 NEWBIES Christian Wakeford, Neil Hudson, Mark Jenkinson, Chris Loder, Dehenna Davison
These relative newbies have quickly found their voices and been unafraid of making their forthright views known. The whips’ attempts to keep them under control were set back by most of their initial months being spent away from Westminster locked down at home. Several have precariously thin majorities so are particularly sensitive to the polls. The generational divide between them and older Conservative backbenchers was most clearly on display during the Owen Paterson row, when they did not hold back in their criticism of colleagues defending the ex-minister as he attempted to escape suspension for breaking lobbying rules. Mr Wakeford said this week that the situation was embarrassing and demanded: ‘How do you defend the indefensible? You can’t!’
SNIPERS FROM SCOTLAND Douglas Ross, Baroness Davidson, David Mundell
Some of the most strident criticism has come from senior Conservative figures north of the border, where the PM has consistently been seen as a problem for the party. Mr Ross, who is both an MP and a member of the Scottish Parliament, was the only Government minister to resign over Dominic Cummings’ lockdown-busting trip to Barnard Castle.
Now leader of the Scottish Tory party, he has called for the PM to resign for attending the boozy party in the No10 garden on May 20, 2020.
In a characteristically forthright tweet, his predecessor as leader, Baroness Davidson, this week asked of Mr Johnson and his No10 team: ‘What tf (the f***) were any of these people thinking?’
THE GRIEVANCE-BEARERS Caroline Nokes, Tobias Ellwood, Johnny Mercer, Nusrat Ghani, Jackie Doyle-Price
This group are not reluctant about taking to the airwaves to share their opinions. As select committee chairmen, Mrs Nokes and Mr Ellwood have sparred with the PM during his appearances before the liaison committee. They insist it is not about revenge after they were removed when he entered No10. On Wednesday, Mrs Nokes said she recognised Mr Johnson ‘did a fantastic job’ at the 2019 election, but added: ‘Now regretfully, he looks like a liability.’
THE MEN IN GREY SUITS Sir Graham Brady, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, Sir John Redwood
The ‘men in grey suits’ see themselves as the conscience of the Conservative party and believe it is their duty to point out to the Prime Minister when he is getting things wrong. This is often done discreetly behind closed doors, but in recent months these long-serving MPs have publicly raised concerns about the direction on coronavirus and tax policy.
As chairman of the 1922 Committee, it is Sir Graham’s job to collect the letters of no confidence submitted by backbenchers, although he has always been tightlipped about the number he has received.