Well known Isle of Wight Conservative, and IWC cabinet member Cllr Ian Ward, Tweeted last week that people should vote for a party other than his own.
Looking at Ian’s recent Tweets it’s obvious he’s frustrated by the progress with Brexit. His frustration is largely directed at the leader of the UK’s Conservative party and current Prime Minister, Theresa May, as the following examples of his Tweets show
- “when are Conservative MPs going to rebel against her?’
- encouraging Owen Paterson MP, saying, “Come on Owen, you MPs have to get rid of her.”
- “Come on Boris, put her out of her misery. Being PM is clearly beyond her; she’s damaging the country and the Party.”
- “Get rid of her now!”
- “Arrogance, distain for the little people and a disconnection from the Party members and the electorate (let’s not forget them – O sorry you’ve already done that) has led to this. How any Conservative, let alone an MP can think this is right is beyond me!”
This somewhat came to a head last week, when Cllr Ward took to Twitter to say the following:
“As Hammond says we now need a long delay, we will have to take part in the EU elections. So all Brexit supporters need to vote for the UKIP or Brexit Party to put as many MEPs in place to destroy the EU from the inside. I expect that thought will shake the EU leaders.”
Cllr Ward has subsequently deleted the tweet.
Got in touch with Ian to ask why
Given what a long time and staunch supporter Ian is of the Conservative Party as a whole, it was somewhat surprising, so we wrote to him to ask him a few questions about it:
We asked:
- Can you help Islanders understand why a person, like you, that has been so committed to the Conservative party for so long, is actively encouraging people to vote for other parties?
- What led you to remove the Tweet?
- Were you asked to remove it?
- Who asked you to remove it?
- Will you be campaigning for UKIP and the Brexit Party if there are MEP elections in the UK this year?
Ward: “Believe that the Prime Minister has let us down badly “
Cllr Ward replied:
- I have been a Conservative supporter and subsequently a Party Member for many many years. On the issue of Brexit, which I strongly support, I along with many people, of all parties in our country believe that the Prime Minister has let us down badly by agreeing to a Deal that effectively traps us in the EU. This Deal is against the result of the Referendum, which was to Leave. If the continuing events and delays lead us towards having to take part in the EU elections the EU would be very concerned that they may get a larger number of anti EU MEPs than they expect. The EU is already concerned that some constituent Member states are also considering leaving and thus destroying the EU so would not welcome more anti EU MEPs. To prevent this the EU could decide against allowing the UK another extension so we could then leave under WTO rules. I hope that explains my logic in suggesting voting for anti EU MEPs. It is not anti Conservative, rather anti EU.
- I removed the tweet because I have seen how words and intentions can be twisted to attack the writer. Sadly, that was starting to happen. Some people think it’s quite in order to make personal attacks on people who have a different opinion to theirs.
- No, nobody asked me to remove it.
- NA
- No, I will not be campaigning for UKIP or the Brexit party if there are EU elections. I am a Conservative because I believe in the party’s principles and policies. Many Conservative and Labour supporters, even MPs and Ministers reject this bad Brexit plan and are saying so publicly. All mediums of the media are reporting the anger felt.
Tip of the hat to Isle of Wight Can Depress for alerting us to Ian’s tweet
