Whiff of betrayal stalks Conservative Party
Birmingham (United Kingdom) (AFP) - Talk of treason cast a shadow over Britain's Conservative party conference this week, where gossip raged over who might be next to defect to the anti-EU UK Independence Party (UKIP).
Delegates debated the menace at a seminar on "Tackling UKIP" while two activists drew attention with T-shirts about UKIP leader Nigel Farage that read: "Nigel. He may have a point".
The latest to switch sides on Wednesday was Conservative donor Arron Banks, an insurance businessman who media reports said could now seek to run for parliament as a UKIP MP.
Conservative leaders brushed off the significance of the announcement, timed just ahead of Prime Minister David Cameron's concluding speech at the conference in Birmingham.
Banks follows Richard Barnes, a former deputy to London Mayor Boris Johnson, who announced his decision on Tuesday.
More painful was the defection at the weekend of Conservative MP Mark Reckless, and in August, of lawmaker Douglas Carswell. ...