Andrew Turner survived an attempt by some within the Isle of Wight Conservative Association (IWCA) to have him de-selected as the party’s candidate for the 2015 election.
The meeting of the IWCA executive took place yesterday, where, OnTheWight has been informed, documentation of a motion had been circulated in advance, presenting a number of options that could have led to Andrew Turner not being selected as the Conservative candidate at the next election.
In the end, a senior source tells OnTheWight, the motion was withdrawn.
Two options
The two options that would have faced Turner, had this motion been accepted, were for him to face a Yes/No vote by members of the Island’s Conservative Association to accept him as their candidate or to have to stand against a short-list of three Conservative candidates on the National Candidates list.
In the end, the IWCA Executive voted on the letter that Andrew had sent to the Chair where he said he’d like to stand as the Conservative candidate.
There was a secret ballot, which was won 23 votes to 12.
What now?
The attempts to unseat Turner have caused considerable rifts within the Island’s Conservatives, with some voicing concerns to OnTheWight that rifts as deep as this could be harmful to the prospects of the Conservative candidate, with the election so relatively close.
Cllr Chris Whitehouse, the man behind the ‘nasty cabal’ accusations of December 2013 Tweeted:
Just heard @TheIslandsMP Andrew Turner readopted: brilliant news We can all get behind him & get rid of putrid cabal that worked against him
— Chris Whitehouse (@CllrWhitehouse) January 10, 2014
Responding to OnTheWight’s Tweet announcing the news, Cllr Whitehouse replied, calling for resignations of what he was now calling the ‘putrid cabal’
@onthewight not nasty, but Putrid Cabal…defeated .Get behind Andrew, but resignations from cabalistas must follow
— Chris Whitehouse (@CllrWhitehouse) January 10, 2014
