Tory right may not 'take any more'

A senior Conservative MP has said the party's right wing may not be able to "take any more" of David Cameron's modernising agenda.

Gainsborough MP Edward Leigh, a key figure in the Cornerstone group of backbenchers, says in the conference edition of the House Magazine that the recent Bromley and Chislehurst by-election result should serve as a warning to the Tories.

In the poll, the party narrowly avoided defeat at the hands of the Liberal Democrats in its 17th safest seat.

And Leigh argued that what he sees as the alienation of traditional Tories under Cameron's leadership means right-wing voters are less likely to turn out and support the party.

"I wonder if the Tory right - and our core supporters - can take any more," he said.

"Whether or not people agree with us, freezing us out upsets the balance of politics.

"Most people end up thinking there is no difference between the main parties. So Bromley should teach us that going too far to attract the floaters is a very high-risk strategy.

"If those like the 633 who won it for us in Bromley were persuaded to switch to a fringe party, or simply abstain, then the 'big suburban yawn' will become the yawning jaws of a fourth electoral defeat."

In his strongest attack yet on Cameron's strategy of appealing to the centre ground by distancing himself from traditional Tory positions on tax cuts and the family, Leigh claimed there is growing "discontent" among the party's grassroots.

He agreed it would be premature to announce plans for a tax cut at this point in the parliament. "But why not make the case for efficiency savings?" he asked.

He also attacked "PC hysteria" and renewed his call for support for traditional marriage, saying it was a common sense rather than "religious" position.

"To extend support to gay couples with children... does not do so," he said.

"There is nothing exclusively religious about this; the evidence is overwhelming."