The inside story on the decision-making process to suspend Lee Anderson from the Conservative Party is becoming an increasingly complex one mired in claim and counterclaim which could yet still see moves to oust the Prime Minister.
But at the heart of the anguish is one man, a close adviser to Rishi Sunak, who the Right of the party has believed for some months now has made it his mission to cleanse the party of them.
Sunak’s Chief Whip Simon Hart is responsible for discipline, making sure MPs follow the party line and punishing those who get themselves into trouble.
It is an essential role and one which requires someone who can navigate his or her way through the party’s different factions and be seen to act with fairness within the party.
The problem is that an increasing number of Tory MPs, including very senior backbenchers and former ministers, believe that Hart is “not fit for purpose” in the role and needs to be sacked. The Lee Anderson debacle has in many ways confirmed their suspicions.
Where things have really come to a crunch is the belief among several MPs that Hart suspended Anderson before talking to the Prime Minister.
“Not true!” said both Downing Street and a source close to Hart.
The source added: “Obviously there was a conversation with the PM.”
At least we know that Sunak is taking responsibility for suspending Anderson, not that the counterclaim is necessarily being accepted.
“Well, they would say that, wouldn’t they,” one MP noted disbelievingly.
But the problems go back even further to an article published by the Daily Mail in which it was claimed he said that he “vowed to crush the religious Right” in the Conservative Party.
That would include MPs like Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg or Common Sense Group chairman Sir John Hayes or New Conservatives Danny Kruger and Miriam Cates. Quite a lineup.
The source close to Hart, however, insisted: “The Chief never said that. It was a made-up story.”
But unfortunately for him quite a number of Tory MPs do not think it was made up and the “crushing” in question was directed at the whole of the right not just the religious part.
“Given his [Hart’s] factionalism it is no surprise he took the first opportunity to get rid of Lee,” one MP claimed.
So since the news broke on Saturday that Lee Anderson had been suspended the anger aimed at Hart has been growing.
One former minister said: “He is not fit for purpose. He is too much part of one faction.”
Another very senior backbencher added: “Not for the first time Hart’s political acumen and judgement need to be questioned. He is certainly not fit to be Chief Whip.”
A Tory MP said: “He’s completely thick. He has no idea what he is doing and his advice to the PM is abysmal.”
Another: “He has to go.”
But in fairness to Hart, at least one MP on the right said he thought Anderson “should have apologised”.
But this MP was in a small minority. One MP claimed: “He [Hart] has a personal vendetta against the Right.”
It had already been noted that over the Rwanda Bill, Sunak had decided not to compromise with the Right of his party to toughen it up because it was claimed that “Hart told him the One Nation group [on the left] was much bigger and too powerful.”
This is even though there are in reality up to 30 One Nation members on the backbenches and most of the rest of the 100 odd claimed to be in the group are “careerist ministers who would not resign”.
Ironically, Hart can thank the right for getting him his seat in 2010 when he was the champion of fox hunting at the Countryside Alliance.
But since then “he has become one of the wokest of Tory MPs” according to a long-time colleague on the Tory benches.
And this is where the issue boils down to the main point.
As one MP put it: “Lee was just saying that Islamist extremists have taken over London’s streets. He is not wrong but we are not dealing with the problem, instead, we are cowering to the Left and suspending Lee.”
It seems unlikely that Sunak will sack his Chief Whip – after all, he is running out of friends – but the bad blood Hart is causing is not helping the Prime Minister galvanise his party for an election fight or, for that matter, see off a potential attempt to oust him.
