Tories in turmoil after councillors quit group but not party

Martin Shipton

The Conservative Party in Cardiff is in turmoil after two councillors who quit the council’s Tory group were allowed to remain members of the party - one in an executive role.

Councillors Peter Littlechild and Emma Reid-Jones were unclear about their reasons when they left the council group in July - a decision that robbed it of its status as the authority’s official opposition.

A row has now blown up over the fact that the two rebels, who now style themselves as Independent Conservatives, remain active members of the Tory party. In fact, Cllr Reid-Jones is an executive member of Cardiff North and West Conservative Federation, a recently formed party unit covering more than half of the capital.

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At the time of their resignations from the council group, the two councillors would only say: “We came into politics, to act in an honest and transparent manner, working hard for the benefit of the wards we represent, the people of Cardiff and to advocate for those who don’t feel they have a voice.

“We are dedicated to our Christian and Conservative family values, and therefore need to do what is right and not what is easy.”

Now, a member of the official council Tory group has criticised the “absurd” decision to allow the pair to remain members of the party.

'Absurd'

Cllr Sean Driscoll said: “It is absurd that they remain in the party, with one in an executive position, when they have left the council group.

“As members of the party they are entitled to support from Conservative headquarters, with access to a campaign manager, funds and material. They are undermining former colleagues, are able to propose motions and vote for the party leadership.

“Because there are two of them, they have been able to form a council group of their own, giving them the same privileges as other groups, such as special speaking rights at council meetings. It isn’t right.”

Another Tory councillor, who spoke on condition they were not named, said: “The situation is ridiculous. It means that they are technically in a position where they could promote the deselection of loyal members of the party group in advance of the next council election. Why is this being tolerated by the party?”

In a joint statement, Cllr Littlechild and Cllr Reid-Jones said: "After coming to the difficult, but sadly necessary decision to leave the Cardiff Conservative Group we formed the Independent Conservative Group.

“Prior to forming our new group, we met with officers of the Cardiff North and West Conservative Federation and retain our Conservative Party membership.

“It is not Cllr Driscoll's decision on our group name or status. Instead of airing our concerns in public our focus will continue to be serving our residents and holding the Cardiff Labour administration to account."

The Cardiff North and West Conservative Federation is chaired by Cllr Joel Williams, a former Senedd candidate and non-practising barrister who came to fame in 2015 as a runner-up in the reality TV series Big Brother.

He confirmed that Cllr Reid-Jones was an executive member of the federation and that Cllr Littlechild was an ordinary member of it.

Asked whether he agreed it was bizarre that councillors who had left the council’s Conservative group had been allowed to remain members of the party and in one case hold an executive role, he said: “Members of the federation, including me, support all our elected councillors. I don’t want to discuss internal party matters in public.”

It is understood that the disagreements between the two Independent Conservative councillors and their former colleagues in the official Conservative group are more personality-based than ideologically based, although their precise nature remains unclear.

Reform UK

Meanwhile, Cllr Williams denied a rumour that he was intending to defect from the Conservatives to Reform UK.

He said: “I won’t be defecting to Reform. I’m happy in the Conservative Party.”

He did, however, confirm that he was in favour of abolishing the Senedd - a further matter of controversy among Welsh Conservatives, whose Senedd group leader Andrew RT Davies created a row at the Royal Welsh Show in July by inviting those visiting the party stand to participate in a mock vote on whether the Senedd should continue to exist or be scrapped. Some Tory Senedd Members criticised the stunt, pointing out that abolishing the Senedd was not party policy. Mr Davies defended the stunt on the grounds that it was a legitimate consultation exercise.

Cllr Williams said: “Like many Welsh Conservatives, I question the value of the Senedd. I don’t believe it has delivered any of the things the Labour Party said it would achieve at the time of the referendum in 1997. My view is that it should be abolished.

“But this has absolutely nothing to do with the issue relating to Cllr Littlechild and Cllr Reid-Jones. That is an entirely separate matter.”

We wanted to clarify the position with the hierarchy of the Conservative Party in Wales and left a message for Tomos Dafydd Davies, its chairman. He did not respond.