Are Conservative members who endorse the Brexit Party at risk of expulsion?

A few days ago, Tim Montgomerie—a prominent Conservative commentator—tweeted that he would be voting for the Brexit Party and its lead candidate in his area, the former Conservative minister Ann Widdecombe, “with enthusiasm.” And a poll of party members on Conservative Home found that three in five of them planned to vote for the Brexit Party in the forthcoming European Parliament elections. By doing so, are they putting their membership—and their ability to vote for the leader in any future Conservative leadership election—at risk?

Article 3 of the Conservative Party Constitution states that “membership of the Conservative Party is not compatible with membership of or association with any other registered political party.” So any Conservative who joins the Brexit Party (which is a registered political party) is excluded from membership. Further, paragraph 13 of Schedule 6 to the constitution states that standing for election as a candidate of another party is a ground for expulsion. So the position is clear for those Conservatives who join or, like Widdecombe, become candidates for the Brexit Party—they are not entitled to remain.

What about those who campaign for, say that they will vote for, or say positive things about, the Brexit Party? Public campaigning for the Brexit Party—to take an example, by canvassing as part of a Brexit Party group and wearing its rosette—would, in my view, amount to “association with” that party under article 3, and therefore be a ground for expulsion. But there may be room for argument, especially at the margins (delivering leaflets is less likely to be “association” than canvassing, for example).

What about those who just say that they will vote for the Brexit Party, but without campaigning for it? That seems to me to be a more difficult case under these rules. It would be hard to say that anyone who says only that they are voting for the Brexit Party is thereby “associating” with it. But there is a potentially fine line between publicly stating that you will be voting for a party and campaigning for it (and therefore, possibly, associating with it), especially if you start giving reasons for your choice. On the other hand, merely saying positive things about the Brexit Party would in my view be far from associating with it (after all, many Conservatives praised the Liberal Democrats between 2010 and 2015).

A further set of rules that may be relevant, however, are the general rules (in Article 7.22 and in paragraphs 3.5 to 3.7 of Schedule 7) that give the board of the national party and any constituency association the power to expel or suspend a member whose conduct (or, in the case of Schedule 7, opinions) are contrary to the purpose or objects of either body. Those objects include the election of Conservative candidates. It seems to me well arguable that a public intention to vote for a party standing against a Conservative candidate would be contrary to the object of electing Conservative candidates, and hence provide a basis for expulsion or suspension.

Finally, Article 7.7 allows the board to cancel party membership at its “absolute discretion.” That discretion is however tempered by paragraph 28 of Schedule 6, which requires expulsions to be carried out in accordance with the rules of natural justice. That would suggest that it would be necessary to formulate a set of reasons why expulsion was being proposed and to set out the evidence relied on, and to set up an unbiased panel to consider those reasons and evidence in the light of representations from the member concerned.

Those are the rules. But who enforces them? And to what extent can those enforcing the rules simply turn a blind eye to Conservative Party members who cross the line?

Expulsion can be carried out at national level by the Conservative Party Board or at local level by a constituency association. In the former case, there is a right of appeal from the board (or its Committee on Membership) to the Individual Member Review Committee. In the latter case, the constituency association must inform the board and the Committee on Membership, and the committee can then uphold, vary or revoke the decision (from which there is then an appeal to the board). If the decision is to uphold expulsion then the member is expelled from the party as a whole.

What if the party leadership were to decide to turn a blind eye to members who—like Montgomerie—go public on their support for the Brexit Party? Enforcement of the rules—to the extent that they apply to such statements—is a matter for the bodies charged with that task. At the moment, there are stories that the party leadership will take a firm line—but that may become politically impossible if too many members take the Montgomerie approach.

If the leadership decides, in those circumstances, not to act, there does not seem to be much that a member who wants to see the rules enforced can then do. In the case of very clear breaches (joining the Brexit Party or standing as its candidate) a failure to act might well be a matter that a member could take to court, on the basis that continuing to allow someone to remain a member despite such a clear breach was itself a breach by the board or constituency association of the constitution. But in the case of the less clear campaigning/voting breaches, the courts would be likely to allow the party bodies considerable room for exercising judgment and discretion in relation to a decision with obvious political implications. A complaining member could raise a breach of their constituency association rules with the relevant constituency chairman, and take the matter to the national Compliance Officer if not satisfied (see articles 60-62). But it is hard to see that going anywhere if the national party had simply decided to turn a blind eye.

In short, apart from cases where the member concerned stands as a candidate for or joins the Brexit Party (where it is hard to see any option other than expulsion), the question of what happens to them is ultimately political: there are rules in place that would allow a hard line to be taken, but also little to stop the national party taking a softer line if it wanted to do so. Given the apparent widespread sympathy among Conservative Party members for the Brexit Party, the political realities may make widespread expulsions unlikely.