Nick Brainsby

THE chairman of the Islington Conservatives has said the party “shouldn’t be behaving like Reform” as they begin their quest for Town Hall seats.

Speaking to the Tribune after the Tory party have closed their annual conference in Manchester, Nick Brainsby said local members were “fairly solidly centre-right” and that the leadership should not be trying to “ape Reform”.

Leader Kemi Badenoch has been criticised by party grandees including Micheal Heseltine for trying to imitate Nigel Farage by announcing policies like withdrawing the UK from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and deporting 150,000 migrants a year.

Mr Brainsby agreed with this assessment, saying that “where the Conservative party belongs on the spectrum is centre-right [so] that people see us as responsible custodians of this country, that would lower the tax burden and govern in an effective way”.

The chairman said that Islington Tories had not defected to Reform, added: “We’re a group with a generally liberal outlook.”

Islington has never been natural ground for the Conservatives and the last time a Tory candidate was locally elected to the council was in 1994.

But the party believes that national dissatisfaction with Labour may give them a new edge.

Mr Brainsby told the Tribune: “We’re focussing on a couple of core wards. We do think with the unpopularity of Labour and the fracturing of the left, we’re in with a chance.

“There are issues that Islington people are concerned about, particularly how our money is spent, crime, and the quality of the services”.

Mr Brainsby said their manifesto was still under discussion but that “we just want to campaign based on being responsible and fiscally prudent and putting services that the council should be providing for people first and spending less funds on other less important things”.

Critics say it was under a Conservative government that councils that funding was cut year on year, forcing local authorities to take tough choices about where to make savings from frontline services.

Asked whether voters had now forgiven the Tories after the general election meltdown seen last year, Mr Brainsby said: “I think we will find out the answer to that”.