The Reform Party apologised today for dropping a general election candidate who was not responding to emails or calls about the campaign – after it was revealed he has died.
Party spokesman Gawain Towler said he was ‘mortified’ that the party announced that York Central candidate Tommy Cawkwell had been dropped.
When Mr Cawkwell failed to respond to a number of phone calls and emails, Reform rescinded his candidacy for being ‘inactive’, along with that of Julie Wilson, who was due to stand in the neighbouring York Outer seat later this year.
At the time Mr Toweler said: ‘We can’t afford to have people doing nothing in an election year.’
It then emerged that Mr Cawkwell, an RNLI volunteer, had died following the selection process.
Mr Towler told the Mirror: ‘Naturally I am mortified that through ignorance I did not realise the reason for his inactivity, it must have been ghastly for his family to read about it in the way it was presented in the press.’
It came as Rishi Sunak faced a disciplinary headache after a Tory MP urged voters to back Reform UK defector Lee Anderson in his Ashfield constituency.
Nick Fletcher, the Conservative MP for Don Valley, hailed Mr Anderson as Ashfield’s ‘greatest champion’ and called for locals to support him at the general election.
‘We both need to be back in Westminster,’ Mr Fletcher said of himself and Mr Anderson, despite the pair now representing rival parties.
His call came shortly after Mr Anderson, the ex-Conservative deputy chairman, said he would not campaign for his new party in the seats of four of his Tory MP ‘friends’.
Mr Anderson said he would not campaign against Mr Fletcher, Ben Bradley, Brendan Clarke-Smith or Marco Longhi ahead of the general election.
‘Friendship means more to me. Every other seat is fair game,’ said Mr Anderson, who was stripped of the Tory whip in February before going on to join Reform in March.
Mr Anderson and Mr Fletcher’s action – described as a ‘non-aggression pact’ between the ‘Red Wall’ MPs – will cause fresh internal party tensions for the PM.
Simon Hart, the Conservative Chief Whip, is understood to have spoken to Mr Fletcher about his comments.
The Liberal Democrats claimed, if Mr Sunak failed to kick Mr Fletcher out of the Tory party for voicing his support for a rival candidate, it would show ‘he’s too weak to control his party, let alone govern the country’.
The Tory code of conduct states that party members must not ‘oppose any Conservative candidate in any election and/or act as the agent for anyone who does’.
Members are warned they can face expulsion from the party if they breach these rules.