Following our tweet yesterday (Monday), it has now been officially confirmed to OnTheWight that David Walter has finally been allowed to step away as Agent for Andrew Turner, the Isle of Wight Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate in the 2015 election.
Unable to resign
As revealed last week, David Walter was very keen to distance himself from the Conservative campaign, but Andrew Turner had, David claims, refused to revoke his appointment as Agent.
Once the official Election Notice papers had been issued, he was not able to simply resign, but instead needed Mr Turner’s permission to let him go.
Andrew’s third Agent
The Andrew Turner’s latest Election Agent, the third since December 2014, is Cllr Ian Ward, the Chairman of the Isle of Wight Conservative Association, the Chairman of the Isle of Wight council.
He is also the man David Walter last week reported to the Isle of Wight council for making a “untrue and defamatory statement to the press”.
Opinions “not shared by other members of the team”
Following the publication of a letter David Walter sent to Mr Turner and the IW Conservative Association Executive at the weekend, in which he makes several damning allegations relating to how the campaign is being run, Andrew Turner told OnTheWight,
“I am very disappointed by the way in which David Walter has chosen to bring his concerns into the public domain. I have now formally revoked his appointment as my election agent and Ian Ward, the Chairman of the Isle of Wight Conservative Association, will be taking over with immediate effect.
“David of course is entitled to his opinions, but they are not shared by other members of the team, the Conservative Association’s officers or the majority of voters I have been speaking to every day.”
Turner: “David lacked experience”
When Mr Walter was appointed as Agent – taking over from Mike Rooke who stepped down in January 2014 – Mr Turner had said,
“David’s background is in senior management at board level. He has project management, accounts and business law skills and experience, which will be invaluable in this role.”
However, Mr Turner’s view seems to have changed since Mr Walter’s letter was circulated.
Mr Turner told OnTheWight today,
“With hindsight it is clear that David lacked the experience and resilience that was needed for the role. I regret that he has found this so difficult and has chosen to attack so many people unfairly and incorrectly.”
He concluded,
“Naturally this is disappointing, but with only 10 days to go to the election I will be concentrating on the issues that Islanders are concerned about and working with my tremendously supportive campaign team towards a victory on May 7th.”
