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Helmer’s defection to UKIP ultimately the result of Tory confusion about selection processes

March 3, 2012 7:16 pm

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At one level I can’t get very worked up about Roger Helmer MEP defecting from the Tories to UKIP today. Helmer has long held views on the EU-phobic right of the Conservative Party, in many ways closer to UKIP, so his defection is not a great surprise. Conservative Home has Helmer’s full statement and explanation.

Yet there are enough sub-plots to make the Helmer case worth examining.

Today’s announcement shines the light on the closed list election system in place to elect MEPs. Helmer was elected at the top of the Conservatives’ list in the East Midlands, with Emma McClarkin the other Tory. There was one UKIP MEP in the region – Derek Clark. Helmer’s defection reverses this, giving UKIP 2 and the Tories 1.

The interesting case is what happened when the a politician moved the other way. In May 2011 David Campbell Bannerman defected from UKIP to the Tories, and the first reaction of UKIP was to demand that Campbell Bannerman resign as he had been elected as a UKIP MEP. Of course there is no hint of Helmer resigning or UKIP making a similar claim this time around as the party celebrates a coup today.

But of course Helmer had threatened to resign – back in October last year. His idea then was to stand down personally, while letting the number 3 candidate on the Conservative list, Rupert Matthews, take his place. The problem for the Tories is that Matthews seemed even more out there than Helmer, and Tory HQ grew worried about some of the books he had published, prompting annoyance from Helmer that the succession issue had not been resolved, and hence his decision to delay his resignation. Ultimately unable to get his way – an issue Helmer refers to in his resignation letter – Helmer’s hand was forced, and defection to UKIP was the result.

At one level this is a good result for the Conservatives – they see the back of Helmer, a critic of the more moderate conservatism Cameron has tried to portray, and in 2014 everything is up for grabs again at the EP elections. The Tories have also avoided having to have Rupert Matthews as a MEP, possibly for more than 2 years (given sitting MEPs are prioritised on their lists). At the age of 68, Helmer is himself not going to be the future of UKIP.

Conversely UKIP gains one of the highest profile MEPs (Helmer is one of the few anyone is likely to have heard of), and it shows the danger to the Tories of the traditional, little Englander vote that could increasingly go to UKIP. The DOUBLE challenge posed by the Helmer-Matthews issue, and the direct critique of Sayeeda Warsi in Helmer’s statement, calls into question the Conservatives’ ability to maintain a more diverse pool of candidates for future selections – it is A direct challenge to the more cosmopolitan, more diverse party that Warsi and Cameron have been trying to build. The Helmer case may be the skirmish before greater yet similar battles in future.

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  • JoeDM

    The author seems to forget that there are plenty of Labour party members and supporters who are opposed to our membership of the anti-democratic EU.    Also, I seem to remember that pre-New Labour withdrawal from the EU was a very popular part of Labour Party policy.

    • treborc

       Ah yes but that was before they got elected, once elected they said ah yes we need more jobs for the boys and girls, Kinnock needed a well paid job for well being new labour.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-Homfray/510980099 Mike Homfray

      Was it? It was Labour party policy for a couple of years and was soon reversed following Neil Kinnock taking over as party leader. It didn’t appear to be very popular when it was party policy.

      There has to be an alternative and whilst I am not happy about many of the recent developments in the EU no-one appears to be coming up with a practical or constructive alternative

  • AlanGiles

    I am really neutral on the question of the EU: It’s like the curate’s egg – go0d in parts, but at least this man is being honest and joining a party more in tune with his ideas – a pity a few Conservative Labourites at Westminster (e.g. Field) don’t do the same thing

    • mikestallard

      Which parts exactly?

      • AlanGiles

        Well like most things it is neither 100% good or 100% bad – for example the hardship fund to help some of the poorest areas of the country,  has been of great help, but the gravaman of my argument is that this MEP has had the courage of his convictions and joined the party that matches his beliefs. There are some “Labour” MPs (and members) who are more in tune with the Conservatives, some even collaborating with them, and they should be equally honest.

        • treborc

          Funny how these people who are against the EU, will take the jobs and the money, if your against something then you do not join in, but we all know these people are careerist

          • mikestallard

            Clever – but no banana.
            Of course the MEPs are career politicians – otherwise they would stand no chance of being elected because the lists are organised by Baroness Warsi. That is why Roger Helmer has resigned.

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ZPXYLRVP4XOIGGDJWAL6HUO7U4 David

      I agree with you Alan, although the parts of the egg I agree with relate to the free trade of goods – the parts I dislike relate to law; perhaps I am having my cake and eating it

      Technically speaking, however, that makes us both “sceptical” about its benefits, but somehow the moniker eurosceptic (as with climate-sceptic, though a very different debate) has taken a rather different meaning to its precise definition.

  • mikestallard

    I admire and have been reading Roger Helmer’s blog now for some months and have followed the events which you (truthfully) describe above.
    Believe me, there are lots of comments on most of the right wing blogs about the growing outrage that spews out from Berlaymont every day.
    There are going to be more and more.

    Let me share a little with you. You talk about cut backs. Greek teachers, government surveyors, small businessmen and police are out on the streets going through dustbins for food, queuing up for free food parcels, sleeping under bridges. Greeks are Europeans just like us. Many are Socialists.

    I thought you lot cared about stuff like that.

    PS Let us congratulate our very successful President, Hermann von Rumpuy, on his unanimous election as our President for a further prosperous and successful 2.5 years! The people’s choice!

  • Dave Postles

    Do you have an account with a bank which has received ECB 1% loans (e.g. HSBC over 5bn euros, Barclays 9bn euros, etc, reportedly)? 

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Stephen-Collins/100000033820132 Stephen Collins

    Other  than some of his rather stupid remarks on Homophobia and Rape, Roger has it right on a lot of things.

    And no this is not a good result for the Conservatives because it’s a symptom of a wider problem, mainly the dissilusionment with Shameron. 

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