Tory association chairman quits party in protest at Boris Johnson becoming leader

A senior Tory has quit the party in protest at Boris Johnson becoming Conservative leader.



Jason Aldiss, chairman of the Pudsey Conservative Association, tendered his resignation on the day that Mr Johnson takes over from Theresa May as Prime Minister.

He said his election as leader had "confirmed that this is no longer the party I joined in 1995".

In a letter to Tory chairman Brandon Lewis, Mr Aldiss hit out at the "power-hungry saboteurs" who helped unseat Mrs May in order to install Mr Johnson in Number 10.

And he warned that it "may already be too late" to save the Union if the UK ends up leaving the European Union without a deal.

Paying tribute to Mrs May, he said: "She demonstrated remarkable courage, tenacity, dignity and grace under extreme fire – often from prominent Conservative Members of Parliament.

"These were the same individuals who hounded her from office before manoeuvring Boris Johnson into position to seize her job. Yesterday’s leadership election result, which saw more than two thirds of party members vote for Mr Johnson, confirmed that this is no longer the party I joined in 1995.

"The hardline Brexiteers in Conservative ranks, hellbent on a no-deal departure, claim to be patriots. I see nothing patriotic about willingly risking untold damage to our economy, to jobs and to our global standing for decades to come.

"They also claim to be unionists but, through their actions, they have placed the future of the Union itself in grave peril. It may already be too late.

"The election of Boris Johnson as the new Prime Minister and self-styled Brexiteer-in-Chief is surely the final insult.

"Mr Johnson and his band of power-hungry saboteurs in the Parliamentary Party claim he is the only Conservative who can keep Jeremy Corbyn out of Downing Street. I wholeheartedly disagree.

"Mr Corbyn is indeed a danger to our country. He is also unelectable. I would say precisely the same about Mr Johnson."

He added: "Unlike some very senior Conservatives who have buried their true feelings in the hope of preferment under Prime Minister Johnson, I can no longer defend this misguided, dysfunctional, disingenuous obliteration of years of hard work.

"I am left with no option but to resign."

Mr Johnson will formally become Prime Minister on Wednesday afternoon and immediately set about putting together his first Cabinet.

Following his election as Tory leader, he said: "We know the mantra of the campaign that has just gone by, unless you have forgotten it. You probably have... it is deliver Brexit, unite the country and defeat Jeremy Corbyn. And that is what we are going to do."