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Triumph of the Cameron cutie in battle with local Tory bigwig
Paul Waugh, Deputy Political Editor10 Feb 2010
High-profile Tory candidate Joanne Cash emerged triumphant from a bitter party row today after winning the full backing of David Cameron.
The 39-year-old barrister was reinstated as candidate for the key Commons marginal of Westminster North, after a chaotic 24 hours that began with her own resignation and ended with the ousting of her chief critic.
Ms Cash, a modernising "A-lister" with close links to Mr Cameron, tried to draw a line under the dispute as it emerged that her local party president had stepped down under pressure from Conservative HQ.
In a saga that highlighted fresh tensions between the rank and file and Mr Cameron's modernising project, Ms Cash quit her candidacy at a fractious meeting of her party association on Monday night.
Amid claims and counterclaims over the amount of street campaigning being done in the target constituency ahead of the general election, Ms Cash stunned party members by resigning in protest at the election of Amanda Sayers as local president.
The leadership scrambled to rescue the political career of one of its favoured candidates. Talks were held with shadow schools secretary Michael Gove and Ms Cash agreed to withdraw her resignation. Amid concerns over the technicalities of her election, Mrs Sayers quit her post.
Today, Ms Cash said: "Of course I'm still the candidate. This is all over now." When asked whether there had been a conspiracy to oust her, she said: "Of course it wasn't a plot. There was no plot."
As the party tried to repair the damage, one Westminster North stalwart told the Standard: "This was the story of two very strong-willed women and one of them had to lose".
The feud boiled over at the association meeting at plush Commander gastropub in Mr Cameron's Notting-Hill/North Kensington backyard.
This weeks' events bring to a climax a saga that dates back to 2006. Mrs Sayers a 47-year-old former City lawyer, gave up her career to look after her children, had been one of Ms Cash's biggest backers to take on one of the Tories' most sought-after candidacies.
Ms Cash is a libel barrister, educated at an Ulster state school and Oxford. Her husband Octavius Black is a contemporary of Mr Cameron from Eton and the couple regularly dine at the Tory leader's family home.
Having been placed on the party's "A-list" of talented - if politically inexperienced - candidates, Ms Cash was introduced to the Westminster North association at the party conference in Bournemouth in 2006.
Weeks later, her name was on the shortlist for the candidacy and she won selection by a large margin.
But as time went on, there was muttering about how much time the candidate was spending on the doorstep. Ms Cash's allies say this is nonsense and that she is an excellent and hard-working campaigner. Relations with Mrs Sayers proved prickly. Ms Cash was an unashamedly modernising candidate, raising hackles with a website blog defending all-women shortlists, and attacking local parties that favour "white, male" candidates.
Things came to a head in December after the Conservative vote collapsed in a council by-election. It then emerged that Mrs Sayers wanted to stay on for another year as party chairwoman. An emergency meeting was called to coincide with Monday's AGM, at which some of the Tories' biggest guns turned up.
Former MP Matthew Carrington was drafted in as a troubleshooter from Tory HQ, but party chairman Eric Pickles was also present. The association president, shadow Lords leader Tom Strathclyde, was there, as was honorary treasurer Matthew Hancock. Mr Hancock was until recently George Osborne's chief of staff. Sir Simon Milton, Boris Johnson's chief of staff and former Westminster council leader, attended too.
At first things appeared to run smoothly. Mr Carrington made a short speech warning that communications chief Andy Coulson was watching the decision for a possible PR nightmare. Mrs Sayers agreed to withdraw the motion allowing her to stay on as chairwoman.
But as the meeting moved to the election of party officers, Lord Strathclyde called for nominees and secondees for Mrs Sayers to be elected as president instead. Mr Milton questioned whether an outgoing chair could be elected president. But Strathclyde went to the vote. "This is when the fireworks happened," one source said.
Ms Cash walked out. The vote was held and Mrs Sayers elected. Ms Cash returned, furious, and announced she was resigning. A 10 minute break took place during which there were frantic negotiations with the leadership. One person said Mr Cameron himself was on the phone, adding: "He's livid".
Mrs Sayers told members that Ms Cash had threatened to quit privately before. The meeting ended in confusion, but with the expectation Ms Cash should be given time to clear her head. Informally, she was given a day to think things through.
By 8.20pm last night, she was back on Twitter: "I did resign. Assoc did not accept. CCHQ has resolved specific issue so I am not leaving. It's official DC has changed the party!!!!"
Reader views (8)
No worse than all the peers that are sitting in the Lords that are only there because of their 'charitable donations' to the Labour Party.
- Nobby Clark, Perth, the Scottish one, 11/02/2010 12:01
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So central Tory office interfered with a local vote?
".. all-women shortlists, and attacking local parties that favour 'white, male' candidates."
Oh dear is Cash related to Harpy Hairyman?
This petulant individual does not bode well for the Torys at all. Who was it that declared more women in politics is a good thing?
- Frank, Home Counties, England., 11/02/2010 10:39
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The Conservative Party just like the Labour Party gets taxpayer funding so it can exist. They then select people from within their ranks of the Political Class who they will permit the electorate to put an X against.
What about the constituents, in a democracy it is the People that select their candidates, and it is People that select someone to represent them in Parliament.
When someone is selected by the Political Class, they are selected because of their loyalty to the people that chose them, and their loyalty to the club they have joined. When a candidate is chosen by their constituents, they are loyal to their constituents, and the country in whose parliament they sit.
One version is about creating a ruling class the other is about democracy. Then the Political Class has the nerve to say we the People don’t trust them, surely it is the other way around, they don’t trust the People.
Give us democracy and give Parliment to the People.
- Ian B, Reading, England, 11/02/2010 09:38
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That's what the country really needs; a spoilt , selfish prima donna. Is she goint to stamp her feet and scweem and scweem and scweem if she doesn't get her own way in the Commons?
- John, London, 11/02/2010 02:23
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Now we know why Labour wiped the floor with the tories for so long. Flash, my friend, your party machine is a joke.
- Steve, Brentford, 10/02/2010 14:29
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So much for giving power back to the people.
- Val Daniels, Mijas Costa, Spain, 10/02/2010 13:41
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Lord Strathclyde and Sir Simon Milton no doubt were very instrumental in re-establishing, as candidate for Westminster North, Ms Black, whose husband, Octavius, is a contemporary of Mr Cameron from Eton and at whose home the Blacks regularly dine. Good old Tory party, plus ça change... You cant help but smile if not laugh!
- Fanfan La Tulipe, London, 10/02/2010 13:35
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Oh dear, what a farce.
- Anthony, Esher, Surrey, 10/02/2010 13:10
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