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Fox hunt masters are secretly “mobilising” support for Theresa May and believe the general election “is the chance we have been waiting for” to repeal the hunting ban.

A leaked email from the chairman of the Council of Hunting Associations, Lord Mancroft, urges hunt masters to “mobilise supporters” and campaign for pro-hunting Tories in marginal seats.

Lord Mancroft, himself a Tory peer, told supporters that Mrs May’s huge lead in the opinion polls presents a “seminal moment” for their campaign to bring back the cruel sport of fox-hunting after a 12-year ban.

He said a Tory majority of 50 or more MPs should be enough to secure a repeal of the 2004 Hunting Act in a Parliamentary vote later this year.

“This is the chance we have been waiting for,” Lord Mancroft wrote.

(Image: REUTERS)

“A majority of 50 or more would give us a real opportunity for repeal of the Hunting Act. This is by far the best opportunity we have had since the ban, and is probably the best we are likely to get in the foreseeable future.”

Animal welfare campaigners and Labour candidates said the email laid bare the stark reality facing Britain if Mrs May secures the landslide victory she wants on June 8.

Angela Smith, Labour’s candidate in Penistone and Stocksbridge and a lifelong animal rights campaigner, said: “This is exactly why we must not give the Tories a blank cheque.

“If Theresa May wins a big majority on June 8 we will see all the worst excesses of an unrestrained Tory Government.

“Bringing back fox-hunting, one of the cruellest blood sports imaginable, will be just the start.”

(Image: Clive Postlethwaite)

In the private email, sent to hunt masters at the end of April, Lord Mancroft claimed he has received private reassurances that Mrs May will give a manifesto pledge to hold a free vote on repealing the hunting ban.

The same manifesto pledge was given by David Cameron in 2010 and 2015 - but the votes in Parliament were never actually held.

Mr Cameron, himself a fox-hunting devotee, decided not to proceed because he never held a large enough majority in the Commons to be sure of success. A small group of liberal-leaning Tory MPs are opposed to bringing back fox-hunting, and have made clear they would vote against repealing the ban.

Lord Mancroft’s email reveals hunt masters actually supported Mr Cameron’s decision to back away from a vote, as they knew he would lose.

“All the advice we received was that we should not risk such a vote unless we had a reasonable expectation of winning,” Lord Mancroft wrote.

(Image: PA)

But opinion polls suggest Mrs May could now be on course for the Tories’ biggest election win in decades - raising the prospect of there being enough Tory hardliners in Parliament to repeal the Hunting Act.

“We need a Government that has both a manifesto commitment to repeal the Hunting Act, and a big enough majority to get repeal through the Commons,” Lord Mancroft wrote.

“It now looks, unexpectedly, as if there is a very real chance we could get such a Government.”

(Image: Getty Images)

Mrs May has yet to confirm if she will repeat the pledge of a free vote on hunting in the Tories’ 2017 election manifesto, which could be published as early as next week.

But she voted against the hunting ban while in Opposition in 2002 - and then told the BBC in 2009 she backed a free vote to abolish it.

In a debate with anti-hunting campaigner Sir Patrick Moore she said then: “I’m afraid Patrick and I have different views on the issue of fox-hunting. I was one of those Tories who was voting against this piece of legislation.

“We would give more time for a Bill to be brought forward to repeal the Hunting Act.”

Accused by Sir Patrick of having “a love of cruelty”, Mrs May replied: “It’s not about the love of cruelty. It’s about a method of actually keeping fox numbers down.”

In his email last month Lord Mancroft claimed he and another pro-hunting Tory, Carmarthen West candidate Simon Hart, have already been told that another free vote will be promised in the 2017 manifesto.

And he revealed he has warned Mrs May that pro-hunting groups will not back the Tories unless she does so.

“Simon Hart MP and I have received assurances that such a commitment will be carried forward to the 2017 manifesto,” Lord Mancroft wrote.

“I have made it clear that we will only provide support on that basis, and that if the manifesto does not contain an acceptable commitment, we will withdraw our support.”

(Image: PA)

(Image: Getty Images)

His email urged hunt masters to contact a pro-hunting group called Vote OK, which co-ordinates efforts to repeal the hunting ban.

“Vote OK... has already started to plan what we are all going to do during the campaign,” Lord Mancroft wrote.

“We will only help candidates who give us an unequivocal commitment to support repeal when the time comes. Nor do we need to help candidates in ‘safe seats’ with large majorities. Instead we will concentrate on those seats where we can make the most difference.”

Vote OK carried out a similar operation for David Cameron in 2015 - though did not secure him a big enough majority for the ban to be repealed.

But Mr Cameron’s gushing gratitude for their help was revealed in a text he sent on the morning after the 2015 election saying: ‘Please thank Vote-OK for all their amazing work’.

Lord Mancroft’s email warned supporters that politics is “the art of the possible” and they may therefore have to settle for “an alternative legislative measure” that relaxes the current rules.

And it concluded with a call to arms for fox-hunting supporters, stating: “Unless specifically advised to the contrary, every hunt should assume that it will be needed to assist with political work, and start making arrangements to mobilise supporters now.

“This is the chance we have been waiting for. We have six weeks to show, yet again, what we are made of, and our undying commitment to our way of life.

“We have six weeks to win back all that has been taken from us.”

Lord Mancroft, 59, is a Tory peer and businessman who inherited his seat in the House of Lords from his father in 1987.

He is a former joint master of the Gloucestershire-based Vale of the White Horse Hunt, and during the debate to ban hunting vowed to “outlast our enemies” after the ban was implemented.

He hit the headlines again in 2008 when he described NHS nurses who had treated him in hospital as “grubby.. drunken and promiscuous”.

Lord Mancroft was not available for comment last night.

But a source close to the peer said he "stands by his email".

And a spokeswoman for the Countryside Alliance, which does PR for the Council of Hunting Associations, defended the secret campaign.

She said: "We wait to see what the manifestos bring - but as they always have done, hunts will continue to make the case for hunting and take action through the ballot box to try and seek repeal of the failed Hunting Act."

A spokesman for Mrs May said in a statement: "The Conservative party

will set out its manifesto in due course."