The former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith has repeatedly called for help from fellow Eurosceptic MPs to fend off a campaign by the Guardian columnist Owen Jones to unseat him.



Weeks after last year’s general election – when Duncan Smith’s majority in Chingford and Woodford Green was slashed to 2,438 – Jones announced he would sweep into Duncan Smith's Greater London constituency with a horde of Momentum activists to start building opposition against the Tory heavyweight for the next election.

In response, Duncan Smith made several pleas for backup to members of the European Research Group, an alliance of hardline Tory Brexiteers, according to messages leaked to BuzzFeed News.

The ERG's WhatsApp group was set up to help Eurosceptic Tory MPs support the government's main Brexit departments, but Duncan Smith used it to appeal for help to campaign in his constituency on at least three occasions.

Days before Jones staged a rally in Chingford in July, Duncan Smith told colleagues: “I am giving you all a shout out for help... We are expecting a large number of Momentum supporters to try and get publicity by turning up to show they will get rid of me.