The North of England is not a priority for the Conservatives according to Dominic Grieve, as he addressed a packed conference room in Manchester last night.
Tensions were running high at the event run by the Conservative Group for Europe which included speeches from three ousted MPs in Dominic Grieve, Alistair Burt and David Gauke.
Grieve expressed his concerns about the current state of the Conservative party and especially the way that Boris Johnson is acting as a leader with his stance on a ‘No-Deal’ Brexit.
“The Dunkirk spirit was very good when we were on our uppers in the middle of the Second World War,” he said.
“But I don’t think we should inflict a Dunkirk situation on our country.”
The statement was greeted by a round of applause from those not there to heckle.
His biggest concern however was what he thought this strategy may do to the Conservatives’ election prospects.
And instead of reaching out to the people of Manchester, the city in which the conference is taking place, and the potential voters of the North, he cried out to “sensible people” in middle England.
“The number of people…who are telling me they are not going to vote Conservative as matters stand (due to) their lack of trust in what the party is doing is immense.
“Whichever seats we think we may get to share in the North of England I can assure you the evidence suggests that those areas in Middle England, where traditionally we got all our support from sensible people, we are going to find that lots of them think that we in a sense have parted.”
However, with many Labour seats in the North at risk of losing out to the Conservatives, or even the Brexit party, in many areas on the issue of Brexit, it is clear to see why there is a tension between Grieve and the Conservative leadership.
The Conservative conference ends tomorrow which may be telling for the future relationship between Boris Johnson’s party and voters in the North.
Image courtesy of ITV via YouTube, with thanks.
