Ex-Yorkshire Tory association chairman says he is "politically homeless" as he quits party after 24 years

A former Yorkshire Conservative association chairman has announced he is leaving the party because its "policies and attitudes have left me politically homeless".
Boris Johnson took over as Prime Minister last monthBoris Johnson took over as Prime Minister last month
Boris Johnson took over as Prime Minister last month

David Herdson, who chaired the Wakefield association between 2016 and 2018 and the Shipley Association from 2011 to 2013, wrote in an online post that he was resigning his membership after 24 years.

The former Bradford councillor wrote on the Political Betting website: "While that’s a moment of some sadness for me, it’s of trivial importance on any wider scale.

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"What isn’t trivially important is the set of changes which the Party’s undergone in the last few years and especially the last few weeks because these will have an immense impact on the country, one way or another, and are changes that no true conservative party would be advocating."

He said the Brexit was the foremost consideration, criticising the "obsession with either the arbitrary deadline of 31 October" and "the clear desire among many in the Party to leave with no deal".

Mr Herdson wrote: "In truth, Brexit has become for the Conservatives what nationalisation is for the Corbynite Labour Party: an end in itself, to be achieved irrespective of cost and with any practical benefits as an incidental bonus.

"It is a revolutionary ideology unworthy of the Conservative Party, not least because it fails to consider the likely counter-productive political and social consequences of delivering Brexit in such harsh manner."

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The political pundit and activist described the appointment of former Vote Leave campaign director Dominic Cummings as Prime Minister Boris Johnson's special advisor as "an indication that good, stable government is not valued", adding: "He will inevitably cause conflict and chaos and destroy much more than he can create."

And he criticised what he described as the Government's "irresponsible attitude to fiscal prudence"

He wrote: "The Cameron governments did great work in healing the economic damage caused by the excesses of Gordon Brown, in eliminating the real-terms budget deficit while preventing recession and in overseeing considerable growth in employment.

"These achievements are now likely to be undone by the uncontrolled promises made for additional spending or new tax cuts."

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He concluded: "The changes in the Conservative Party’s policies and attitudes have left me politically homeless. Labour under Corbyn remains a serious threat to the country, while I cannot support the Lib Dems when they reject the referendum result.

"I know I am not alone in my dilemma and there are others on the centre-right who feel much the same. Where our votes will go in the end, I can’t say: I suppose it will depend to a large extent on whether any party bothers to court us."