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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Politics
Hatty Collier

Dominic Grieve facing deselection after losing no confidence vote held by local Tory group

Facing deselection: Dominic Grieve (Picture: EPA)

The prominent pro-Remain Tory MP Dominic Grieve could face deselection after he lost a vote of no confidence by his local Conservative association.

The chairman of the Beaconsfield Constituency Conservative Association Jackson Ng said the no confidence vote motion was passed at the association's annual general meeting.

"Our members had a robust discussion with our MP, Dominic Grieve QC on Brexit before voting on a motion of confidence in him as our MP, which, I can confirm with a heavy heart that he failed to retain," he said in a statement posted on Twitter.

"He remains our Conservative MP but I will be speaking as soon as possible to my fellow officers and the executive council."

Mr Grieve, a former attorney general, was one of the MPs behind the cross-party move to seize control of Commons business to stage a series of indicative votes on alternatives to Theresa May's deal.

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The opposition in the constituency to Mr Grieve is reported to have been organised by the former Ukip candidate who stood against him in the 2017 general election, Jon Conway.

A number of Conservative MPs swiftly criticised the no confidence vote after it was announced late on Friday.

Senior Tory backbencher Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, said it was "deeply disappointing".

He tweeted: "Few in Parliament have contributed as much to public life as Dominic Grieve. As attorney general and chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee he has served our country dutifully for decades. He deserves thanks and praise, not this. Our party and country would be poorer."

Former minister Alistair Burt said it was an "extraordinary decision", adding: "A quality colleague, brave enough to challenge, but fundamentally a Conservative through and through. Where on earth are we heading with situations like this?"

Former Tory MP Anna Soubry, who was also at the forefront of the Remain wing of the Conservative Party until she defected to join the Independent Group, branded the vote "disgraceful".

She tweeted: "More evidence that the uncompromising dogmatic right is running the @Conservatives #DominicGrieve is one of the finest, most courageous Parliamentarians ever - who has always put his country first & championed all his constituents."

Several Labour MPs also voiced support for Mr Grieve.

Stella Creasy said the country's politics "would be poorer without his input".

She said: "I'm in a different political party to Dominic. We disagree on many things. I doubt Beaconsfield conservatives could find someone more experienced, more capable and more principled than him for their MP."

Phil Wilson said the vote was "ridiculous", adding: "I'm not of the same politics as Dominic Grieve but to deselect him as a Conservative candidate is to diminish politics, see an end to political integrity and deprive politics of a sincere and thoughtful practitioner."

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