Are your Local Conservatives to blame for National Conservative Policies? They don't want you to think so.
Jamie Christie, Lib Dem candidate for Leomansley in the Lichfield District and City Council elections on 4 May writes
"Across the country, including in Lichfield and Burntwood, Conservative Party candidates in the 4 May local elections are describing themselves on ballot papers as 'Local Conservatives'. While local election candidates in Liz Truss's constituency can perhaps be forgiven for wanting to spare themselves the embarrassment of being associated with the former Prime Minister's party, Conservative party associations in Hampshire, Nottinghamshire, and elsewhere seem similarly keen to put some distance between themselves and the national party. The practice has become so widespread that - ironically enough - it's presumably been sanctioned at the national level.
Nor is this a brand-new phenomenon; in a 2022 local election in Hartlepool, a 'Local Conservative' begged voters 'please don't punish local Conservatives for the mistakes made in Westminster'. The attempt to pretend that your local Conservative Party candidates aren't remotely the same as Conservative Party MPs down in Westminster just all seems to be a bit more shameless in 2023. But those Westminster MPs represent local constituencies, and are selected by the same local party organisations who put up candidates in local elections. If 'Local Conservatives' were really so keen to distance themselves from the national party, they could always come up with some distinctive policies and de-select the MPs that they seem so ashamed of. Since they don't, we can only assume that the slightly silly attempt to re-brand at the local level is a cynical attempt to fool voters.